For much of the Knicks’ defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, Julius Randle was a problem, in basketball parlance.
He bullied his way to the basket on Wednesday, like when he sucked up friction from three defenders to finish a first-half layup. Push the ball to the ground. He brilliantly found open shooters (eight assists). He was defensively engaged. Catch 12 rebounds. The Knicks finished the game by defeating Dallas by 29 points when Randle was on the floor.
There was one hole: Randle shot a disappointing 6 to 17. It didn’t matter much in the 108-85 win over Dallas, but it was part of a long-running trend of poor attacking by the Knicks’ top player.
For most of the season, Randle, 27, has been a problem for the Knicks, not a problem for the other teams. After signing a long-term extension with the Knicks over the summer, he’s going through one of the worst seasons of his career. This is the main reason why the Knicks were only at .500, when they were expected to count on last year’s surprise race to qualifying. And that could mean a long-term problem for the Knicks, who have committed a large portion of their maximum salary to Randle for at least three more seasons.
Randle is averaging 19 points per game, the lowest since the 2017-18 season. His field goal percentage – 41.4 percent – is low in his profession. His assists (4.9 per game) are less than last season (6.0 per game) and he is at the highest level in his turnover (3.5 per game). Several key players in the Knicks, including Mitchell Robinson and Alec Burks, have done better without Randall in the game. Last month, Randle said it “has to be better,” and that he “takes responsibility for myself.”
His movement, the reverse jump, was not reliable – making it easier for defenders to muster him or force him into more out-of-control drive.
Randle’s struggles came to a head last week when he thumbed a Knicks fans during a game against the Boston Celtics. After that, he told reporters, using profanity, that it meant for the audience to shut up. He apologized in an Instagram post. The NBA fined him $25,000 for “indecent use of profanity during media interviews.” When asked about the fine and nod after Tuesday’s workout, Randle was rude, saying he “really ate it.” This came a day after his two-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs.
When asked if the team needs to do more to get him involved, Randle was similarly short: “I’m glad we got a win yesterday.”
Randle’s disappointing first-round series play began last season against the Atlanta Hawks, a team that dominated during the regular season but couldn’t finish in the postseason. However, his struggles this season have been overwhelming. There is no indication that his condition is disabling or that injuries play a role.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Wednesday that Randle has remained consistent, despite his numbers dropping.
Julius is a professional. “He has been through the ups and downs in this league for a long time,” said Thibodeau. “He knows where he is in this league and he knows what he has to do and there is no change in his approach to practice.”
Oftentimes, the cause of player conflicts can be easily determined. A star player’s teammates might not hit his players or take enough of them, forcing the player to take on more double teams and take tougher shots. The Knicks had this problem last year, with Randle as a star player, even though he played well and made the All-Star Team. But this season, he’s got a lot more kick-up around him, and with new additions like Evan Fournier, he’s mostly able to get the same look as before. They just don’t fall.
Tibodo said after training on Tuesday that Randle remains an influential player even when he’s not scoring, due to the defensive interest he attracts.
When he gets the ball out of the way of the overburden, the second or third pass is going to give us the shot, said Thibodeau, referring to the double teams Randle is facing.
In fact, some of Randle’s worst numbers are when the defender is nowhere near him. He only shoots 26.6 percent of shots when a defender is at least six feet away from him, according to NBA tracking numbers. That number was at 44.4 per cent last year in the same amount of shots per game. When the defender is four to six feet away from him – still considered open – Randle shoots 41.1 per cent – down from 45.1 per cent last year. Open shots make up more than half of Randle’s field shooting attempts.
This gives something to both the glass-filled auditorium and the half-empty glass Knicks fans. If you’re an optimist, you’d assume that missing so many open shots is luck for Randle, and that there’s no way the NBA All-Star will continue to shoot less than 27 percent when open, it’s just a matter of time, not if he comes out of the slump. The world might consider last season a control group: If Randle gets the same shots he did last year with better bowlers around him, his stats are sure to improve. After all, he’s still bouncing at a high level (10.2 per match) and the rest of his numbers are more or less where they need to be.
As Tibodo said, “You’ll get a lot of effort from Julius every day.”
If you’re a pessimist, Randle’s shooting struggle is a dip into the middle—that last year was just a fluke. Randle is a 33.6 percent 3-point shooting career who somehow turned out to be a 41.1 percent scorer last year. For people half an empty cup, this season’s poor performance aligns with Randle’s struggles in his first year as Nick. This means that in two of his three years in New York, Randle hasn’t played well, which is a worrying sign considering the team has invested in him for the long-term.
There is no systematic reform of Thibodeau. There’s no game plan that would make Randle stop jamming if he’s open. If Randle isn’t a shooting threat, Thibodeau can work through him in the post. But Randle was in the habit of dribbling in double teams closer to the basket and forcing her to make bad passes. This happened Wednesday night against Dallas, when he had five turnovers. When Randle doesn’t make jump shots, it can make scoring more difficult for the Knicks because front-court teammate Robinson only plays on the edge – part of an indictment for Robinson’s inability to extend his range.
The bright side is how the Knicks are heading into the second half of the season. They’ve gone 7-3 in the last 10 games. At 21-21, they hold the same record as they did last year at this point, before losing the dominant second half. But it’s hard to see how the Knicks maintain their lead without producing their best players at a high level. Meanwhile, Thibodeau expects Randle’s best approach to be business as usual.
“Julius is passionate about the city, our fans, the game, and winning. That’s all that matters,” said Tibodou, adding, “Keep moving forward.”