New York Knicks: 4 Goals for Julius Randle this season

4 benchmarks for the New York Knicks’ All-Star to clear this year

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that Julius Randle completed one of the greatest single seasons in New York Knicks history over the 2020-21 campaign. He won the Most Improved Player award in a landslide, and it’s not hard to see why.

He was the offensive engine of a team that finished with a 41-31, leading the Knicks to their first playoff appearance in eight seasons. At just 26 years old, he’s only starting to scratch the surface of his prime.

This culminated in the Knicks front office rewarding Randle with a 4-year, $106.4 million contract extension that kicks in at the beginning of the 2022-23 season.

With the 2nd Team All-NBA power forward staying in New York for the foreseeable future, it’s time to start looking towards the upcoming season.

After a series of draft selections and free agency signings, there will be a few significant changes to the Knicks roster. However, it’s still clear that Randle remains the number one option on the offensive side of things.

He’ll need to prove that he can maintain his excellent scoring and efficiency while also adjusting his game to include the two major additions to the starting lineup. Here are 4 goals he should look to surpass in order to remain a star.

New York Knicks — Julius Randle Goals: Shoot over 50% from the field

Randle averaged a career-high 24.1 points per game this past season. Surprisingly, he did so on just 45.6% shooting from the floor, the lowest mark since his first full season in the NBA. The main reason for this was a large volume of mid-range jump shots, often taken with a high degree of difficulty.

Randle’s average shot attempt distance was 7.8 feet away from the basket throughout the first six years of his career. Last season, his average shot distance was 14.5 feet away. Only 16% of Randle’s field goal attempts came at the rim this year, a career-low.

This heavily bogged down his overall field goal percentage, as he shot 59.6% in the restricted area compared to just 41.5% on mid-range jumpers.

Defenses periodically loaded up the paint against the Knicks offense, often leading to Randle forcing up shots instead of getting to the rim.

After adding playmaking upgrades in Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker in free agency, the Knicks can now use their All-Star big as a finisher instead of a shot creator.

It’s a role that Randle thrived in when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans, thanks to the playmaking of former teammate Jrue Holiday. In his lone season in Louisiana, Randle averaged 21.4 points per game on 52.4% shooting.

He finished that year in the 92nd percentile of pick & roll finishers, regularly using his large frame to bully his way to the rim with a head of steam after receiving a slick dime from Holiday.

The Knicks would be wise to let Walker and backup point guard Derrick Rose handle more of the playmaking duties and use Randle as a closer, allowing him to take full advantage of his elite ability to finish inside the paint. It would also help him bring his field goal percentage back above 50%.

New York Knicks — Julius Randle Goals: Maintain 40% shooting from three

Perhaps the most unexpected part of Randle’s season was his sudden ability to become an exceptional shooter from behind the arc.

In his entire career prior to 2020, he shot 29.5% from three on 1.5 attempts per game. This past season, he shot 41.1% from deep while taking 5.5 attempts per contest. While regression may be in store, there are some signs that he could still remain above the 40% threshold.

Similar to his field goal percentage, the addition of Kemba Walker should help. Walker can operate as the lead ball-handler for the offense, a role that Randle previously needed to have due to the lack of elite playmaking surrounding him.

Randle shot nearly 42% on catch-and-shoot threes last season and he’ll be getting a lot more of those high-quality looks next year with Walker controlling the offense.

He also connected on over 81% of his free throws this season after shooting below 74% in every previous year of his career. This points to a change in his mechanics which led to more consistency with his shooting motion, which should still carry over into the 2021-22 season.

If Randle can shoot over 40% from three once again, it helps open up the floor for the entire Knicks offense to flourish.

New York Knicks — Julius Randle Goals: Average less than 3 turnovers per game

Turnovers were quite possibly the only area where Randle didn’t improve in 2021. While his 6.0 assists per game were crucial to the success of the team, he continued to struggle with giveaways.

He averaged 3.4 per game, and he finished 4th in the entire NBA in total turnovers. This issue was amplified during the Knicks’ first-round playoff loss against the Atlanta Hawks which saw Randle averaging an unsightly 4.6 turnovers per contest.

In fact, he ended up with at least 5 turnovers in 20 separate games this past year including the postseason. It’s no surprise that the Knicks came away with a record of 7-13 in those contests.

Randle’s turnovers per game numbers have increased in each one of his seasons in the league, so it’ll be intriguing to monitor if he can finally put an end to that unfortunate trend for this upcoming year.

The expected Knicks starting lineup will be filled with excellent shooters and cutters, giving Randle no more excuses for a potential increase in turnovers. Walker and Fournier are offensive upgrades over Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock and the return of high-flying center Mitchell Robinson should open up easy lob opportunities. Not to mention the expected improvement of rising star RJ Barrett.

Randle should try to remain at around 6 assists per game while staying below the 3.0 turnovers mark.

New York Knicks — Julius Randle Goals: Continue to average at least 10 rebounds

Randle recorded 10.2 boards per game last season, the second time in his career that he’s averaged double-digit rebounding numbers. His rebounding ability is extremely important to the success of the Knicks, as it allows him to grab the miss and immediately start pushing the ball up the court for a fastbreak opportunity.

New York finished dead last among the league with just 14.2 transition points per game last season despite ranking 10th in transition field goal percentage. A large portion of this was due to Randle’s ability to go coast-to-coast, a skill that few of his teammates were adept at.

He shot 60.2% during transition opportunities this past season, the highest mark on the team among players who attempted at least 1 fastbreak shot per game. Getting a quick board and running the floor also allowed him to survey the court and find open teammates much easier.

In games where Randle recorded double-digit rebounds, he also averaged 6.7 assists per contest. In games where he recorded single-digit rebounds, he averaged just 5.3 assists per contest.

Julius Randle blossomed into a star in 2021, proving doubters wrong on numerous occasions while leading the New York Knicks to a long-awaited playoff berth. He’ll now look to build upon his success with an upgraded group of teammates.

If he can hit these four goals, the Knicks should be on their way to the postseason once more and may even win a series or two.