Knicks: Where Does Julius Randle Rank Among NBA’s Best Players?

Who would you consider Knicks’ Julius Randle to be better than?

Of course, there is no concrete answer as to what players Julius Randle is better than.

Player rankings are different for everyone. My opinion will likely be based on different thinking than you currently reading this article.

We all have attributes we value more than others.

All that is to say that I will do my best now to present the argument for who I believe Randle is currently better than. This is just my opinion, so feel free to drop your list for the NBA’s top 10, 20, whatever number you like in the comments.

For this exercise, I’m first going to name you 16 players, who will be split into two tiers.

The first tier will contain nine players who I think are just below the elite. The other tier will contain 7 players who I simply think aren’t quite on the same level as the people listed above them.

Tier 1: Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, Karl Anthony-Towns, Paul George, Chris Paul, Demar Derozan, Bam Adebayo, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker.

Tier 2: Rudy Gobert, Trae Young, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Nikola Vucevic, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton.

That, roughly, is a list of my top 30 players when you include the first 13 players named and Randle.

The lists are compiled of players off the top of my head who are having great seasons and who I think are the best players on their team and in the league. I would even expand the second tier to fit Domantas Sabonis, Jaylen Brown, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, De’Aaron Fox, and Zach Lavine as guys in the mix for the top 30 NBA players.

So which tier does Randle fall into?

I would put him in tier 1 right now. Julius Randle as mentioned is a player who is elite in some areas while also very highly skilled in others. He has been the best player on a Knicks team that has been slotted as high as the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. He plays every game and is consistently the best player on the floor for his team, if not the best player period.

This slots him somewhere in the top 22.

Which player’s do I think are better than Randle in this tier?

I’ll say that Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum are firmly ahead of him. I would argue Randle plays at a level that on any given night will rival George, Towns, Paul, Mitchell, Derozan, Booker, and Adebayo.

Right now, I would say he has the edge over Derozan and Adebayo. This means I think Randle falls somewhere in the 15-21 range.