Knicks: Comparing older versions of Julius Randle to today’s

Lakers Julius Randle vs Today’s Knicks Julius Randle

Julius Randle was drafted seventh in the 2014-15 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. In his regular-season debut, he suffered a broken leg and missed his entire rookie season.

He came back the next season and played in 81 games. In those games, he averaged just over 11 points and 10 rebounds per game.

In each of his next two seasons in Los Angeles, Randle increased his points per game while slightly decreasing his rebounds per game.

Discounting his one year spent injured, in his three years on the Lakers Julius averaged 13.5 points per game, 8.9 rebounds per game, and 2.6 assists.

This season, he is averaging almost 10 more points per game with 23.2. An important statistic to note is that he has averaged 10.5 field goal attempts per game on the Lakers. This season with the Knicks he’s averaging almost 17 field goal attempts.

One of the reasons for the increase in shots is Randle’s increase in minutes. In L.A. he averaged 27.9 minutes per game compared to the 36.7 minutes Randle is playing under Tom Thibodeau. It is of note that Julius is second in the NBA in minutes per game this season.

Another metric where Randle has improved astronomically is his three-point shooting. On the Lakers, he shot an average of .6 three-pointers a game, at 25% efficiency.

Now, Randle’s shot from behind the arc has added a new element to his game, making him a far more dangerous weapon on offense. This season he is averaging 4.5 three-point attempts and making 40% of them which equates to well above the league average.

His distribution is another area where Randle has improved vastly. He averaged 2.6 assists per game on the Lakers. While other factors are certainly at play — such as he was still young and he was playing on a team with Kobe Bryant — he has improved leaps and bounds with his passing ability and that comes across on the stat sheet.

This season Randle is averaging 5.5 assists per game, which is the 27th highest in the league. More specifically, he has totaled between five and nine assists in 19 games this year and totaled 11 assists on one occasion this year in his triple-double performance against Cleveland in late December.

He has become a great distributor this season and has come a very long way since his early years in the City of Angels.