The New York Knicks got some devastating news on Thursday when it was announced that star power forward Julius Randle will have surgery on his injured right shoulder and will miss the rest of this season.
Randle has been out of action for about two months, and this procedure will be a major blow to the Knicks’ hopes of shaking things up in the playoffs.
It’s an unfortunate development, as they were 11-1 when Randle, Jalen Brunson, and OG Anunoby were all in the starting lineup this year, per NBA on ESPN.
The Knicks were rolling with these three in the starting lineup. Tough loss for NY 💔
Randle will undergo a season-ending right shoulder surgery. pic.twitter.com/TkZ9QVfbpN
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 4, 2024
While Randle’s play offensively has historically been up and down, especially in terms of his shooting efficiency, he has averaged 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists a game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field this season.
His ability to get buckets, hit the boards, and be a secondary facilitator alongside Brunson will be greatly missed.
Unlike many teams these days, the Knicks win by pounding opponents on the boards and making games ugly, but they will be hard-pressed to produce enough points to beat quality opponents without Randle.
They averaged just 106.3 points a game in February and 108.4 points per contest in March, and teams simply cannot expect to win on a regular basis by putting up scoring numbers like those.
Still, New York managed to go 9-5 in March and has starting center Mitchell Robinson back, and with a true identity, perhaps they will still surprise people come playoff time, especially after adding Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Alec Burks in multiple midseason trades.
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Knicks Star Officially Out For The Season
