This is the debate of the century (according to Knicks fans exclusively).
An argument can be made for whether the Knicks would be better off today if they still had Kristaps Porzingis as opposed to Julius Randle starting at the 4-spot in orange and blue. Both players come with differing skillsets, strengths, and weaknesses but both are still all-star level talents in their own right.
This begs the question; Who’s actually the better player?
There’s a number of statistical and non-statistical categories I could discuss comparing the two players, but the ones I feel are most important are — Scoring/Shooting, Defense, Playmaking, Rebounding, Health, and Contract.
I promise to be as unbiased with my assessments as I possibly can be, but it may be hard considering the bad taste left in my mouth due to the way Porzingis and Co. forced their way out of New York. In my over 20 years’ worth of fandom, I’d never felt as hurt or slighted as I did when I heard the news that he had been shipped off to Dallas in exchange for a much lower return than what I had thought he’d been worth. Since then, my stance has changed a bit and I think the Knicks found a way out from under a player who may have been better off elsewhere.
I do encourage everyone who reads to give your take as well. Whether it be on Twitter or in the comment section of the article, please tell me who you think the better of the two is and why. I am happy to have an open discussion regarding this, but in the meantime, here’s my breakdown.
Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis or Julius Randle — Scoring and Shooting
Both men have been prolific scorers over the length of their careers. Kristaps Porzingis most definitely came out of the gates hot, averaging 14.3 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 52% as a rookie. For his career, Porzingis is averaging 18.5 points and a very impressive 54% true shooting percentage.
Julius Randle on the other hand took some time to turn into the all-star caliber player he is today. I would say he didn’t really become a high-level offensive weapon until his 4th year in the league where he averaged 16.1 points per game. If we take his rookie season out of the equation where he only played in 1 game and scored just 2 points, Randle’s career average for scoring is 17.3 points per game. Randle, somewhat surprisingly has a better true shooting percentage than Porzingis for his career which currently stands at 56%. I believe this has to do with the fact that Porzingis took more 3’s than Randle has, which brings his percentages down a bit.
While Randle has certainly improved his 3-point shooting this season, for the most part, he’s shot well below league average for the previous 5 seasons that he’s been in the league. On the other hand, Porzingis is known for his 3-point shooting ability almost more so than any of his other strengths on offense. Randle is the better shooter this year but that should surely change as the season progresses. Randle is a career 30% shooter while Porzingis’ career average is around 36%.
Porzingis clearly has the stronger overall body of work but Julius Randle is the better player as of today, and I do not think it’s close. This could of course change over time as “KP” continues to knock the dust off after returning from his torn meniscus injury from last season.
Randle’s grade — B+
Porzingis grade — A-
Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis or Julius Randle — Defense
Both players aren’t exactly known for their defensive prowess but up until this season, some Knicks fans have made the joke that Julius’s last name is actually spelled Ran’le, as in there’s no “D” in the man’s name, nor his game.
Porzingis on the other hand is well-known for his protection of the rim. For his career, he’s averaging 2 blocks per game and a season-high average of 2.4 per game back with the Knicks in his first and only all-star season. Although I did mention that Porzingis isn’t exactly known for his defense, he’s gotten much better under defensive mastermind Rock Carlisle. In fact, “KP” was in consideration for Defensive Player of the Year last season before the season was cut short due to the pandemic. At one point last season, Porzingis’ opponents were shooting just 49% at the rim, which was second-best in the NBA among players with at least 50 rim attacks defended. He trailed only Hassan Whiteside at the time.
Back when Julius Randle was on the Lakers he was considered a plus defender. On the Pelicans and Knicks, his defense pretty much went out the window. He gives little effort at the rim compared to most big men and averages just 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per game for his career. He has done a bit better this year so far defending on the ball and has shown much improvement when switching during opponent’s pick and rolls.
All in all, Julius Randle is becoming more of an offensively dominant player now and that’s where the bulk of his energy is spent. Porzingis pretty much does it all on both sides of the court.
Julius Randle — C
Kristaps Porzingis — B+
Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis or Julius Randle — Playmaking
Here’s where the tides begin to turn.
One of these men is literally a “point-forward” and the other is not. While Porzingis is not the worst passing big-man in the league, he’s not exactly good at it either.
Julius Randle has been used as a primary or secondary ball-handler for the past 3 seasons. For a guy not exactly known for his offensive awareness, he does a great job of getting his teammates involved. This season Randle is averaging 6 assists per game as a secondary ball-handler next to Elfrid Payton and currently has the most assists per game on the entire Knicks roster. Over the past 3 seasons, Randle is averaging a quite impressive 4.1 assists per game.
Porzingis on the other hand is only averaging 1.4 assists per game over the course of his career. He did come close to 2 assists per game last season which is decent, but still a bit underwhelming.
Julius Randle has had a huge issue with turnovers throughout his career, especially during the last 3 seasons where he had been used as a ballhandler, averaging just over 3 per game during that stretch. If the Knicks plan to seriously compete with Julius Randle as apart of the roster, he’s going to have to fix this.
Porzingis is averaging close to 2 turnovers per game, which doesn’t seem like much but for someone not responsible for passing the ball all that often, it’s a pretty high figure. This is going to weigh pretty heavily against him.
Julius Randle — B+
Kristaps Porzingis — D+
Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis or Julius Randle — Rebounding
For a guy over 7-feet tall, why is Kristaps Porzingis so………pedestrian at rebounding? As it stands, he’s at 7.7 rebounds for his career. Granted, his rebounding numbers have gotten much better since the trade to Dallas, but at just 8.3 boards per game, albeit in just his first 7 games back after returning from injury, I would expect his numbers to be much better. He’s currently being out-rebounded by most other star centers such as Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Deandre Ayton by a wide margin. He’s even currently being out-rebounded by Knicks center Mitchell Robinson by a very slim margin. Point is, I don’t think “KP” will ever get his averages above 10-11 boards per game on an entire season.
Julius Randle is maybe one of the best rebounders in the league listed at under 6’10. On the year, he’s at an incredible 11.3 boards per contest with an impressive career average of 9.1 per game. Needless to say, Randle wins this battle easily, even with him being listed at 7 inches shorter than the aforementioned Porzingis.
One statistical category I was a bit surprised by was offensive rebounding. When I checked out both players’ basketball reference pages, I expected to see Randle’s career numbers to be far lower than Porzingis’ considering both the height differential and the fact that Porzingis has been playing more of a modern-day center role as of late whereas Randle has almost exclusively played the 4-spot his entire career, next to another center who’d be more responsible for cleaning up the glass. Randle has a career average of 2.1 offensive boards per game while Porzingis averaging just 1.7. I had truly expected Randle’s numbers to be a bit lower on that side of the court, while Porzingis standing at a true 7’3 would have a clear advantage in this category.
Height is going to be a huge factor for both players when considering their grades.
Julius Randle — A
Kristaps Porzingis — B-
Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis or Julius Randle — Health
Buckle up, Mavs fans…..this one might get a little bumpy for y’all.
By no means is Julius Randle considered to be an “iron man” whatsoever. He’s had his fair share of injuries that have sidelined him throughout his career. In his very first game as a rookie, Randle broke his leg and lost the remainder of that season in order to rehabilitate his injury. Randle has yet to miss a game so far this season even with playing the most minutes per game of his career. On top of that, from years 2 through 5 Randle has played in 374 out of 394 possible games, including a full 82-game season, one season where only one contest was missed, and 2 games missed out of a possible 66 during the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season.
As this is being written Porzingis has missed the first 11 games of the current season, and let’s face it, he’s bound to miss more time more likely than not. For his career, Porzingis has played in 250 out of a possible 421 regular-season games. He’s played in less than 60% of his eligible games compared to roughly 95% for Randle.
To quote a line I used in a previous article, “the best ability is availability” and this couldn’t be more accurate. You can be LeBron James’ and Michael Jordan’s lovechild and your blood type could be Spalding but if you can’t actually play in over 25% of the games you’re supposed to be eligible for, how useful to your team and organization are you really?
This is why I still stand by my recent notion that the Knicks did in fact WIN the Porzingis trade. Yes, as the league has proven time and time again, it does take much more than two 1st round picks to acquire a star player, but if even one of the 2 picks the Knicks are set to receive from Dallas can turn into another Immanuel Quickley type of player, the Knicks win hands down.
Julius Randle — A
Kristaps Porzingis — D
Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis or Julius Randle — Contract
This one is probably the easiest to break down of the bunch. Julius Randle signed a 3-year, $62 million deal in the 2019 offseason. Shortly after his trade from New York, Porzingis signed a 5-year, $158 million max extension with the Mavs.
Julius Randle looked to have been slightly overpaid last season as he earned approximately $18 million for the season, but since then, the $28 million he’s set to make over the course of the current season and next looks like one of the best, team-friendly contracts there could be. Meanwhile, Porzingis earned $27 million last season while only playing in 76% of Dallas’ games and now this season he’s set to earn $29 million in a season where he’s already missed 11 games in what’s to be a shortened season. Even if Porzingis doesn’t miss another game this year, he would have only played in 84% of the teams’ games this season.
Julius Randle is on a contract where the Knicks have still been able to maintain roster and cap flexibility even if his production completely fell off a cliff. Porzingis’ worst-case scenario would be that his contract would remain on Dallas’ books as an albatross when it comes time to pay Luka.
Julius Randle — A+
Kristaps Porzingis — B
All in all, this was a lot of fun. It’s really easy to just say this player is better than that player but to be able to do a deep dive on numerous categories to help myself and the readers understand the players better was enlightening, to say the least. As a Knicks fan, I couldn’t be happier to have proved that the team is just better off now with Randle than it would have been with “KP” but again, I am here for an open discussion with anyone who’s made it this far into the article.
Julius Randle weighted average — A-
Kristaps Porzingis weighted average — B-