Julius Randle being out for rest of Knicks season happened at perfect time
With five games left in the regular season, The Athletic’s Fred Katz reported ahead of Saturday’s contest against Cleveland that Julius Randle would likely be out for the remainder of the New York Knicks’ season.
Randle’s been dealing with a quadriceps injury, which caused him to be sidelined even before the matchup against the Cavaliers. However, it seems as if both he and New York decided that it’s best for him to sit out for the rest of the 2021-22 season.
First and foremost, I wish that Randle wasn’t dealing with what seems to be a nagging injury. If it were up to me, players would stay injury-free, but unfortunately, we know that isn’t possible.
It’s for the best that he’s shut down for the rest of the year, though. With the Knicks being officially eliminated from the playoffs, he doesn’t need to risk injuring himself further in games that don’t matter. Also, it’s beneficial for the front office to get to see more of the younger players on the roster.
Tom Thibodeau said Julius Randle is out for tomorrow’s game in Orlando, too, and “most likely will be out the rest of the way."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 2, 2022
Julius Randle won’t play for the New York Knicks again this season.
Truth be told, the forward’s last game of the year should’ve been on Mar. 20 against Utah. Two days after that 108-93 loss, New York fell to Atlanta and all but ruined its chances of making the play-in tournament. Because of his quadriceps, Randle didn’t play again until Mar. 27. He’d go on to play two more games after that.
With three contests left to play this season, New York sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference at 35-44. Unlike a number of their opponents in their final games of the year, the Knicks don’t have to worry about winning games for seeding purposes.
Some fans want New York to lose these games so that the organization will have a higher draft pick in June, then there are the fans who want the team to put forward their best effort and rack up wins in their final push.
Regardless of how you feel, it’s evident that in comparison to last season, Randle isn’t the same player. In 72 games, he still averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, but his inconsistency has hurt the Knicks (along with other factors).
If he’s truly hurt, which it seems as if he is, there’s no viable argument for why he should be playing. Randle’s signed with New York through 2025-26, and given how this year went, that feels like it’s a 100 years away.
It’s been rumored that Randle requested a trade, and although he denied those reports, there’s still the chance that he could request one during the offseason. If that happens (a big if), playing injured isn’t going to help him or the Knicks.
And if Randle’s back next year in New York, the work that he puts in this summer is going to be more important than ever. He might not feel this way, but even after earning his first All-Star nod last year, he has a lot to prove to the Knicks.
