There’s a lightness to Julius Randle these days. A wide, bright smile stretches across his face. He is far removed from the doldrums of last season, when his shooting efficiency plummeted after a breakout All-NBA campaign in 2020-21, which also earned him Most Improved Player honors. The Knicks sputtered in ’21-22 along with Randle’s offensive output, falling out of the play-in tournament after earning home-court advantage in the 2021 playoffs.
“Last year was tough. I’m a competitor at heart. You get addicted to winning and wanting to experience that,” Randle told Yahoo Sports. “And for me, I wasn't at my best and we didn’t build off what he had did the year before.