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In the heat of an 82-game NBA season, jam-packed with an In-Season Tournament and daily rumor mill, it can be easy to become laser-focused on the present and short-term future. Players take it a game at a time, and fans rewrite their legacies even quicker than that.
Take Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, the two-headed monster leading the Knicks to a 17-14, start, a 46-win pace. The masses are clamoring to get Brunson his first All-Star bid after massive performances against the league’s elite, while they’re waiting for the playoffs to validate the production from Randle thus far.
Lost in those constantly shifting narratives is the bigger picture, especially regarding those two talents. Whenever and however this era comes to an end, Brunson and Randle are going to be looked back on as all-time Knicks.
Randle is currently in his fifth season in the blue and orange, tied for the second-longest-tenured Knick on the roster behind Mitchell Robinson. If he plays through next season, he’ll join the center as the longest-tenured Knicks in over a decade of incompetence.
His averages in those five years: 22.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists on 47 percent shooting from the field, suiting up for 95 percent of his 332 regular season games. He’s the only Knick with a single 20-8-5 season and has more or less averaged that line for five years.
Brunson’s only been here a season and change, putting up 24.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists on 49 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from deep. He’s arguably been the best Knicks point guard in generations, putting up a heroic effort in his first postseason trip, with 70 points over back-to-back elimination games in last year’s second-round loss to the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat.
Together, the two have already left their marks on the Knicks record books, and delivered the winningest season in a decade, matching Carmelo Anthony’s longest playoff run as a Knick. Even with “the big trade” looming, it’s hard to see either one departing in the near future, setting the stage for them to leave a lasting legacy in this storied…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/julius-randle-jalen-brunson-line-150153624.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2023-12-30 15:01:53
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