Grading Julius Randle, Knicks' Top Stars to Open 2021-22 NBA Season
The New York Knicks spent most of their offseason money in-house, yet the team hardly resembles the one that made a surprising push into the 2021 NBA playoffs.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, either. It's just different.
Last season's Knicks won with relentless effort and lockdown defense. This year's group is unloading a barrage of buckets and using them to cover some new cracks in the defense. After Wednesday's loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Knicks are now the fourth-best team on offense and sixth-worst on defense, per NBA.com.
How are the Knicks' stars—new and old—contributing to this identity change? Funny you should ask, since we're here to assign letter grades to their first two weeks.
RJ Barrett
1 of 3
RJ Barrett probably won't see the volume increase needed to follow in Julius Randle's footsteps and give the Knicks their second consecutive Most Improved Player award.
That's not an indictment of Barrett's season by the way. Rather, it's a reflection of the fact he may have been too good last year to elevate his numbers to an award-winning degree.
Make no mistake, though, Barrett is hinting at a major third-year leap. His offense is up almost across the board, including personal bests in points (19.1), field-goal shooting (49.1) and three-point percentage (41.7). His defensive jump might be even better, as he's knocking 6.3 percentage points off of his matchup's normal field-goal rate.
The counting categories aren't quite where he needs them to join the All-Star conversation, but if he builds off of this early success, he could make it a discussion.
Grade: A-minus
Julius Randle
2 of 3
Before the wheels fell off in the playoffs, Julius Randle was busy bordering on unguardable as the backbone of the Knicks offense.
His role hasn't really changed, and his numbers reside in the same zip code (24.1 points and 6.0 assists then, 20.6 and 5.9, respectively, now). The difference, though, is a drop in efficiency.
His jump shooting spiked last season to such a degree that it was easy to question its sustainability. While his shooting rates haven't nosedived, they have predictably backtracked. Last season, he hit 45.6 percent of his field goals; now, he's converting 41.5. The perimeter tells a similar tale, as he has fallen from a 41.4 percent success rate to a 35.7 percent clip.
There's nothing catastrophic here, and he's still the featured player on a much-improved attack. However, the combination of his declining percentages and the spike in support scoring could cause New York to rethink its heavy reliance on Randle.
Grade: B-minus
Kemba Walker
3 of 3
You could argue a combined grade for Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose would make the most sense, since New York has managed a masterful balancing act that seemingly brings the best out of both former All-Star guards. With each player in his 30s and some scary injury issues in their past, it makes sense to limit their minutes and give them something close to an equal timeshare at the lead guard spot.
Saying all that, Walker has a big enough edge over Rose in role and opportunity to focus solely on the Bronx native. Walker is the starter after all, and he's getting nearly seven extra minutes per night (27.8 to Rose's 21).
With Randle handling primary playmaking duties, Walker has been freed to focus more on his individual offense, and the result has been his most efficient scoring to date. Even after Wednesday's dud (2-of-11 shooting, 0-of-5 from distance), he's still on course to post career-highs in field-goal (45.8) and three-point (51.0) percentage.
His 6'0" frame will always make him a target on defense, and the passing decline narrows his margin of error on offense. There are a few things holding his grade back, in other words, but his addition has been a clear positive for this club.
Grade: B
