3 developments to monitor in Knicks’ second preseason game against Pacers

2: Will Julius Randle continue to show growth?

To put it plain and simple, the Knicks won’t be successful if Julius Randle is the same player in 2022-23 that he was last season. There was talk during the offseason about New York possibly parting ways with Randle via trade, but since that didn’t happen, he’s most likely going to remain a starter as long as he’s on the Knicks roster this year.

Randle’s going to have to adjust to not having the ball in his hands as much as he did over the past two years. In the preseason opener, the first half caused many to begin to think that the 27-year-old was going to continue to be the same player, but he turned things around in the second half.

He scored 15 points in 18 minutes with 10 of those points coming in the third quarter. Randle shot 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from the 3-point line. He finished with four assists, and perhaps the most impressive thing about his performance was that instead of forcing shots, he found his teammates for open looks.

Remember how last season when Randle was off, the entire team was thrown off? That doesn’t need to be a theme again in 2022-23, and it appears that due to Randle’s new mindset, it won’t be. He may not return to his All-Star form, but as long as the forward continues to progress, fans should be satisfied.