New York Knicks: 3 award candidates in 2020-21
Most Improved Player: Julius Randle
Every year, the debate about who the league’s Most Improved Player is going to be, goes on and on. Very few people can predict the outcome before the season begins, and it seemingly doesn’t get easier half-way through the season.
When you talk about improvement, Julius Randle slides directly into that conversation. What was a mediocre 2019-20 season, ultimately became the first step towards his development. He has completely transformed himself into a player that has zipped everybody’s cakehole.
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His numbers speak for themselves. Increasing his productivity in every way imaginable, Randle is quietly averaging 22.1 points, 11.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. He has completely bounced back and has gotten his shooting percentages on the right track after last season’s catastrophe.
Julius Randle joins Oscar Robertson as the only two players in NBA history to record at least 200 points, 115 rebounds and 70 assists in their team’s first 10 games of a season. @EliasSports
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 11, 2021
What more specifically stands out about his leap, is those assist numbers. Randle is constantly putting up more-than-double his career average. He and Nikola Jokic are currently the only players sitting in the top-15 in both rebounds and assists per game.
There have certainly been other soon-to-be stars worthy of this award. Christian Wood, Jaylen Brown and Jerami Grant are the first names to come to mind. Even though the season is still young, Randle is the only one whose improvement has had a major impact on the team, not the individual numbers alone.