New York Knicks: 5 takeaways from 4-game West Coast trip

5. Julius Randle shows signs of coming to life

There have been a lot of things for New York Knicks fans to be disappointed in this season. Among them, the performance of their biggest free-agent signing this summer, Julius Randle.

Randle signed a lucrative three-year deal with the orange and blue in the offseason and wasn’t coming close to living up to those expectations. He wasn’t making good decisions with the basketball, leading to turnovers and inefficient offense. However, he looks to have been motivated by the coaching change, as he showed signs of life during this trip.

Randle had some nice games on the West Coast. He scored at least 20 points in each of the last three games on the trip, coincidentally, the three most competitive ones for New York. He shot 31-of-63 overall and 8-of-22 from the 3-point line. While he sometimes settles for jumpers too often, he did take 21 free throws on the trip, making 15 of them.

Randle pulled down 38 rebounds and picked up 14 assists as well. He was also able to limit the turnovers, totaling nine in four games.

If the Knicks can get this Randle more often, they will be a lot more competitive going forward. He was efficient and got to his spots offensively, some of the credit of which should go to Mike Miller for getting him into places to succeed.