New York Knicks star Julius Randle is currently on the path to becoming one of the best power forwards in team history. The power forward position has been the Knicks’ best over the last 15 years. With that being the case, it is time to start comparing Julius Randle to other great Knicks at the position.
Randle is arguably an MVP candidate while also virtually being a lock for the Most Improved Player award, especially after looking at some of these stats that DailyKnicks editor Adam Kester displays here when he’s not too busy getting featured on ESPN.
Randle has been the driving force in bringing the Knicks back to the playoffs, something nobody has accomplished in the last 7 seasons.
Julius Randle has been at the center of the Knicks’ success
The Knicks have not had too many great players in recent years, but their best players are typically forwards. When it comes to some of the best we’ve seen, though, it’s exciting to see where Randle stacks up against them.
New York has had most of their recent franchise players at the power forward slot, and Randle has been able to do many things that none of these other players could.
Randle is a modern star who has done it all for the NYK all season long, only missing one game in the process. He’s efficient, smart, hard-working, and is getting results, not just empty stats like some Knicks may have been.
Julius Randle has made NY better every time he has stepped on the floor. Not every guy on this list had that presence. Randle has outplayed most of the NBA’s other stars this season, but how does he stack up against his predecessors?
David Lee was a bright spot in a dark Knicks era
David Lee and Julius Randle were each 26 when they made their first all-star appearances. For accuracy purposes, we’ll mainly compare their all-star seasons.
The stats are close; Randle averages 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists per game this year on 47/41/81 shooting splits. Lee averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 54% from the field. Lee was also the more efficient player with a 22 PER compared to Randle’s 20.
When I mentioned the possibility of empty numbers, David Lee is the reason for this. Not to take away that Lee was an excellent player, but the Knicks were a bad team. With a final record of 29-53, Lee was putting up numbers for the New York, but they continually lost games.
The difference between Lee and Randle is that Julius Randle is the engine that makes the Knicks move. The entire offense runs through him, and he can isolate and score on all three levels. Though Lee was also an all-star, his lack of outside scoring did not work in Mike D’Antoni’s offense.
Most importantly, as my DailyKnicks teammate Max LoSardo put it, Randle matters more to the Knicks than any star to any team other than Steph Curry to the Golden State Warriors and possibly Nikola Jokic to the Denver Nuggets. Neither Randle nor Lee had absurd amounts of talent around them, but Randle has led his role players to an almost certain playoff spot.
Knicks: Amar’e Stoudemire brought excitement back to the Garden
Signing Amar’e Stoudemire was an exciting time for the Knicks. Fans knew how good STAT was on the Phoenix Suns and could not wait for the dynamic big man to bring his box-office playstyle to the Garden.
Unfortunately for Stoudemire and the Knicks, his body had given up on him. The heavy running of Mike D’Antoni for all those years on the Suns took a serious toll on him.
However, the first year of Amare was incredible, as he was putting up great numbers, and the Knicks were in a playoff spot. We’ll talk about the only season he was healthy, which was also his best season in New York.
Amar’e averaged 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists on 50% from the field. His primarily inside scoring led to a good deal of efficient points. Stoudemire was typically criticized for lack of defensive efforts, having a negative defensive box plus-minus with the Knicks at -0.6.
The difference between Amar’s and Randle is that Randle’s defense has wildly improved under Tom Thibodeau. If Stoudemire was not coached by a coach whose game plan is to out-score other teams his whole career, he could have been a great defender.
Randle’s efforts on both ends of the court and having more impact than just scoring are what separates him and Amar’e. Also, halfway through Stoudemire’s season, a more dynamic scorer than him was acquired by the Knicks, which made New York’s two stars a pretty redundant duo.
Speaking of that star… Here’s the guy who is the only one who probably has an edge on Julius.
Carmelo Anthony carried the Knicks for years
I mean… who else? In the 2012-2013 season, Anthony played power forward and played like a man possessed. Melo averaged 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Carmelo Anthony was the only man who seemed like he could duel it out with Lebron James, who was at the peak of his power.
The Knicks had a more talented roster in 2013 than they do now, but the Knicks were not making the playoffs without Anthony. This is why Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe did not vote for LeBron James to win MVP, voting for Anthony instead.
The argument to say that Randle has had more of an effect than Carmelo in Melo’s year as a power forward is that Randle has led a worse team that had no expectations. The 2013 Knicks were expected to play well. The 2021 team was supposed to be a lottery team.
Randle has taken off to a level of stardom that New York has not seen since Anthony, and he has carried this team here. Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News said that the way Randle has carried the Knicks is similar to “the way Patrick Ewing carried them.”
Neither the 2013 or 2021 Knicks would have been contending teams without their respective stars, so their impact was about even on the specific year. Overall, Carmelo Anthony has 7 years and 7 all-star appearances, giving him an edge at the moment.