Julius Randle holds a high optimism for the rising New York Knicks as he believes they are bound for a golden success moving forward.
The star forward believes that the Knicks are “not that far off” in terms of the competitive standpoint as what he said in his recent appearance in Paul George’s “Podcast P” podcast.
“From a team standpoint, I would have to say it just shows you how balanced the league is to where we realize, just keep getting better – we’re not that far off,” Randle said when asked to assess the Knicks season, per Ian Begley of SNY. “And that’s motivating for me in a sense. In my mind, I’m like, ‘Alright how can I be the best version of myself to help the team win? So I go into the offseason, and you dissect that.
New York retained its status as one of the most promising and exciting teams to watch this season as they were able to land prized free-agent Jalen Brunson in last year’s offseason.
They gradually made their mark around the league and managed to compile the fifth best record in the East (47-35). They went on to outlast Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games of their first-round set, but came up short against Jimmy Butler and the eventual Conference champs Miami Heat the following round in six matches.
With a terrific core of Randle, Brunson, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes and Mitchell Robinson, New York has a bright future to welcome as they still also have a massive load of draft assets which can be used to further remodel their lineup and the next steps of contention.
“We got a great mixture of talent, bro. We’ve got young dudes, we’ve got guys going in their prime. So we’ve got a great mixture of guys and it’s like, ‘How do we keep getting better?’ So from a team standpoint, I think that’s where we at,” he added. “As individuals, how can we get better? And then we (can) figure out what worked in the postseason, what didn’t; what worked versus Miami, what didn’t? What are the teams doing that won? I look at Denver and I’m like ‘Alright what are they doing as a team to help them have such great chemistry on the court to win? I look at it from standpoint.”