In a fitting send-off to an active offseason, the Knicks signed Julius Randle to a four year, $117 million contract extension. Randle’s breakout 2020-21 season is primarily what’s turned this franchise around for the better, and inking him for the long-term is a statement honoring that fact.
While the Kemba Walker signing may demand a bigger headline and the Knicks actively sought out megastars to take them to the next level, this offseason turned out to really be about Randle. After all these moves, he still remains their number one option, their star, and the guy who ultimately decides how far New York goes.
And they just made his job a whole lot easier.
Here’s a reminder of what kind of load Randle carried last season: He led the NBA in minutes played with nearly 200 between him and the next non-Knick. This over 71 games (missing just one) to make it 37.6 minutes a night, also first in the league. Randle played over 40 minutes in 19 games, or a quarter of his season, again most among his peers.
All this, while leading the Knicks to 41 wins behind his massive (and efficient) production: 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, playing high-effort defense in a Tom Thibodeau system, as well.
It’s a testament to Randle’s ethic and his conditioning work that he was able to perform under this workload, especially in comparison to the more rest-centric modern NBA. Of course, it seemed to catch up to the first time All-NBA member in the postseason.
Though hard to say what percentage, it appeared that maybe not fatigue, but an inability to shift to a higher gear played a role in Randle’s stinker of a first-round series. He didn’t have the same legs under him, and against an impressive Hawks defense with limited offensive creation around him, things fell apart.
Fast forward to today. The Knicks replaced the Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock minutes with Walker and Evan Fournier minutes. These are material upgrades, in talent but more specifically in ability to take the pressure off Randle.
Walker is a career 20+ points per game scorer and four-time All-Star thanks to his volume bucket-getting. If healthy and playing at 70% or more, the Knicks can fall back on a high pick-and-roll with Kemba when the offense stagnates and be happy with their possession. If he’s percolating, Randle can take off stretches of plays and watch him cook.
Fournier isn’t at Walker’s level, but is a more dynamic scoring option to Bullock by a fair margin. He can also handle on the pick-and-roll, and be trusted with offensive duties beyond spotting up.
Spacing plagued the Knicks and Randle at times last season, luckily Walker and Fournier attempted 8.1 and 5.9 treys a night at 37.6% and 37.5% clips, respectively, over the past five seasons. They’re also weapons that allow Thibodeau to install more creative sets in the playbook for non-Randle players.
Those were only the new additions to the roster. Part of the offseason is development work of the prospects already on the Knicks, which will play no small role in backing up Randle.
In the Atlanta series, Obi Toppin had a real impact playing the best basketball of his rookie season. Per-36 minutes, he put up 17.6 points and 7.1 rebounds on 52.2% shooting from the field and 33.3% shooting from deep, even playing well enough for stretches to allow Randle second-half rest time.
If Toppin is 10% better than 2021 Playoffs Toppin next year, that’s a very viable backup power forward that can give Randle more of a breather. Much of his workload was due to Toppin struggling through his first year and getting yanked early.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are also in line for improvements, with the former proving he could be a high-level option on a winning team and the latter provided with additional mentors to help flourish his energetic game.
This 180-degree shift to stocking up on offensive creators, aside from being smart moves in a vacuum, serve a greater and pivotal purpose. For the third season in a row, the Knicks are hanging their ceiling on Randle and his ability to lead this team. And for the first time in that span, they’ve got the pieces around him to make that task a whole lot easier.