New York Knicks 2023-24 Player Preview: Is Julius Randle Still King of NY?

Julius Randle may longer be the undisputed franchise face of the New York Knicks but he's still capable of making nationally recognized and rewarded contributions.

Autumn in New York ... from a basketball perspective, it's finally inviting.

The New York Knicks return to action on Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) in a game that will officially open one of the more anticipated seasons in recent metropolitan memory. New York is coming off its most successful NBA season in a decade, winning 47 games and a playoff series for the first time since 2013.

With tip-off looming, All Knicks will analyze and preview what's to come for the major contributors on the blue-and-orange roster. Part X turns the spotlight to the bright aura of Julius Randle, the Knicks' two-time All-Star...

Player Profile

Name: Julius Randle
Position: Forward
Height/Weight: 6-8, 250 lbs.
College: Kentucky
Experience: 10th season

Randle (30) has earned All-Star nominations in two of his four seasons in New York / Geoff Burke, USA TODAY SPORTS

The Story So Far

Only in New York could a two-time All-Star invitee from the past three years leave, or at least present, anything but a complicated legacy.

Randle came to New York as one of the countless consolation prizes/Plan Bs when their first choices moved on. To his credit, Randle has established himself as a force for the Association's elite, reaching a pair of All-Star and All-NBA teams since coming over from Los Angeles and New Orleans in 2019. In that time, Randle has been the undisputed leader and full-time face of Knicks basketball ... for better and worse.

Last year might've been Randle's magnum opus to date: after following up the Knicks' fourth-place run in 2021 with both a brutal postseason against Atlanta and a brutal campaign that valleyed when he bestowed a thumbs-down to a Madison Square Garden crowd offering a Bronx cheer, he put forth what's commonly accepted as his best effort to date.

Randle averaged a double-double for the third time in his career, including a personal best in scoring at 25.1 a game. The former (Kentucky) Wildcat also showcased a new preference from the outside at 218 triples, which might've set a franchise record if not for a late ankle injury that cost him a full season at game 77. 

The one thing that's missing from Randle's metropolitan endeavors to date is postseason success: flubbing his debut is one thing but he was expected to come up big against Miami. While there's no doubt that Randle was far from 100 percent during the series, some critics used the opportunity to dethrone him from the blue-and-orange throne he's held since 2021 and instead offer it to Jalen Brunson. 

They Said It

“The real thing is here. Obviously, we don’t like how we finished this preseason and we’re going to have to take strides and step forwards ... But we will. We’ve been in positions where we had to get it going before. We don’t want to rely on that but we understand that we have to have more of a sense of urgency so we’ll take those steps.”-Randle on the Knicks' outlook for the coming season (h/t Stefan Bondy, New York Post)

“Look, it’s hard to be All-NBA two out of the last three years like what he’s done, so he’s gotten a lot better ... Last year at the end of the playoffs, he was nicked up pretty good. We all saw the Miami series. He had some really good games and then he’s doing it on, you know, a sore ankle."-head coach Tom Thibodeau (h/t Zach Braziller, New York Post)

2023-24 Forecast

It's fair to wonder whether Randle can be the headliner of a championship group. But first things first, especially with the way the Knicks' roster is currently constructed.

The one thing that's missing from Randle's metropolitan endeavors to date is postseason success: flubbing his debut is one thing but he was expected to come up big against Miami. While there's no doubt that Randle was far from 100 percent during the series, some critics used the opportunity to dethrone him from the blue-and-orange throne he's held since 2021 and instead offer it to Jalen Brunson. While it may take a while for him to fully get back into the swing of things, dealing with a Randle with something to prove after the best season of his career could prove especially potent for a Knicks group trying to take the next step forward on the NBA playoff bracket.

Don't expect much to change from Randle's on-court repertoire this time, but the Knicks have something to consider. The two-time All-Star falls under the "star player" umbrella the NBA conjured up to combat load management, but his propensity to play (at least 70 starts in each of the last three seasons) offers the Knicks a comforting sense of reliability and he might have to come up even bigger with Obi Topping elsewhere and the Knicks in a bit of a limbo in the spell option department. Randle has proven durable, but his fatigue or lack thereof, will be something to keep an eye on.

Previous Previews

• RJ Barrett
• Jalen Brunson
• Donte DiVincenzo
• Evan Fournier
• Quentin Grimes
• Josh Hart
• Isaiah Hartenstein
• Miles McBride
• Immanuel Quickley