If Julius Randle continues like this, he will have a hard time buying a drink in New York City for the rest of his natural life. When he’s old and gray, Randle will continue to be the city’s toast to having taken the Knicks ’money when the big names didn’t want it, to start his path to relevance and to make the team’s first championship since of 1973 felt like a realistic goal.
Oh, and to alleviate the sting of Kristaps Porzingis ’trade, if not, make the sting go away completely.
Porzingis ’trade to the 2019 Mavericks for the Knicks wasn’t exactly that of Tom Seaver’s 1977 Mets to the Reds, but it turned out to be just as bad. New York’s top Maverick, Dennis Smith Jr., was a disaster, and DeAndre Jordan, the man who was supposed to help lure Olympic teammates and friends Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving into the garden, ended up joining to them in Brooklyn.
In desperation, the Knicks had to spend some of that money with a salary cap that the trade released. Randle raised his hand. On Friday night in Dallas, with Porzingis on the front line, the only thing Randle did was 44 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, leading his team to their fifth straight win and improving the Knicks ’chances. to avoid the Mavericks’ postseason spot. he seems to be heading for the dreaded play-in tournament.
On his return to Dallas, Randle became the first Knick since Bernard King in 1985 to finish with at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a single game. He was 16 against 29 from the ground, 6 against 11 from 3 points and almost doubled Porzingis ’total points (23).
“When he added the three-point shot,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of Randle after his team’s 117-109 victory, “that opened up everything else.”
Including the possibility that Randle, only eight months older than Porzingis, could surpass him in the next three or four years. It would be a high order to play above the 7-foot-three Latvian, and take a quick look at Porzingis ’last track act as a Knick explains why.
That February 2018 night in the garden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s most athletic player, wore the Porzingis jersey like a middle-aged middle-aged warrior would do at the local Y. Trey Burke of Bucks had a good opportunity to take the lead as Kyle O’Quinn came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of Kyle. But when Jason Terry of the Bucks jumped into the passing lane, the Unicorn did something very unicorn: he stopped at a penny like a wide receiver coming out of a break, split Terry and Antetokounmpo in a hard dive in the basket, and took Quinn’s bouncing step into the air for a great flight, which was placed at the head of the Greek Freak as the camera lights shone around him.
Still, like the Knicks ’last outbursts of prosperity (Linsanity in 2012, Melo’s 54-win season the following year), this one ended too quickly. In fact, it lasted about two seconds after that dive on Antetokounmpo before a fallen Porzingis landed on his left knee and began hitting the ground. Fans couldn’t even get out of their seats before their delight was devastated. KP had a torn ACL and almost a year later he walked into Steve Mills ’office and told team president and general manager Scott Perry that he wanted to leave and that if they didn’t change him he would leave for Europe.
Randle’s work (along with the two outstanding first-round picks the Knicks acquired from Dallas) has made the Porzingis trade feel much less apocalyptic than it seemed at the time. Entering Friday night, Randle outscored Porzingis (23.2-20.7) and outscored him (10.6-9.3), although the Mavs star outscored the Knicks striker in the players ’efficiency rating (22.26 -19.73).
Porzingis killed Randle in a poster throw at Friday’s game, and it didn’t matter. The Knicks ’best player made a triple back with 1.1 seconds left in the third quarter that set up the huge quarter. With 4:11 left and the Knicks maintaining a six-point lead, Randle made two free throws. He pushed the lead about eight minutes later, making a runner out of the glass. With 1:44 left, he sank a twist that faded and seemed to be the clinics.
“He’s our engine,” Thibodeau said. “It makes us leave.”
Randle has brought together this professional season through a work of conditioning the extreme season and the confidence that came from it. When he finished dominating on his return home, Randle was asked what it would mean for him to do All-NBA.
“That would be a big hit,” he said.
As fantastic as making New Yorkers forget how much they hated Kristaps Porzingis ’trade when it fell.