Which New York Knicks Can Succeed Julius Randle as Most Improved Player?
By James Ryder
Arguably the biggest reason for the NY Knicks‘ jump from cellar-dweller to a competitive playoff team this past season was the play of Julius Randle.
His emergence to stardom earned him an all-star appearance, an All-NBA Second Team selection, and he was the clear-cut winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award (MIP).
More often than not, especially in recent history, the recipient of the MIP Award has been a player who has come into his own and reached his potential as one of the league’s best players.
Just 19 of the 36 winners of the award since its inception for the 1985-86 season have been All-Stars.
Only seven of those players (Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O’Neal, Goran Dragic, Paul George, Victor Oladipo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Randle) were selected to an All-NBA team in the same season, with Pascal Siakam being the only other player to make an All-NBA team after winning the award.
Other recent All-Star caliber players who won the award are Kevin Love, CJ McCollum, Jimmy Butler, and Brandon Ingram.
Can Another NY Knicks Player Be the MIP this season?
Therefore, there is a rich history to the award, and seeing a player honored for making such a leap in their career is a good sign that that player will be a star-level player for years to come.
A frequent pastime for NBA fans in the offseason is discussing which players will make those leaps.
Typically, fans and media are successful in predicting which player wins the award and which players are in the running for it as well.
One of the popular names that are being discussed online for this year’s winner in fact is a New York Knick.
So, in this article, I will be giving my three choices for which Knicks players have a chance to succeed Julius Randle as the winner of the MIP Award in the 2021-22 season.