Kenny Smith has come around on Jalen Brunson. But he believes the Knicks still need another player to meaningfully close the gap on the Celtics — and that player is a transformed Julius Randle.
“I think Julius Randle is good enough to be that,” Smith told The Post at the NBL Next Stars, held at the Peak Event Space at EDGE in Hudson Yards. “I think the best thing to happen is for Julius to get hurt and see that some of the responsibility he thought he needed to have, he doesn’t. And some of the responsibility he couldn’t take, he should. And so his game will change next year. And I think it will make him a much better player.”
The implication from Smith, who is also the Director of Player Initiatives for the National Basketball League in Australia, was that Randle watched the Knicks’ success without him and should’ve been humbled into a lesser role.
Randle, who hasn’t played since January because of a dislocated shoulder, averaged 24 points and nine rebounds before the injury.
The three-time All-Star said recently he’s “ahead of schedule” with his surgery recovery and will be ready for the start of next season.
The Knicks were eliminated in the conference semis after a flood of injuries, and, barring a seismic trade, their most compelling argument for contention is better health from Randle and OG Anunoby.
The problem with any argument toward Knicks championship contention, however, is that the Celtics are still in the East.
“Their fifth-best player is the best player on a lot of teams — [Kristaps] Porzingis. And at times, he’s their fifth-best player. That’s what makes them at another level,” Smith said. “You really need personnel to beat the Celtics. Right now, [the Knicks] are close. They’re definitely a 4 [seed], a 3 or a 2.
“Whereas a year before, they were just as close to being in the play-in as they were to being a 2. They’re not that anymore. They have solidified themselves — but to take them to a championship level, Julius Randle has to be healthy or someone like him.”
The main reason the Knicks are in this conversation is because of the emergence of Brunson, who Smith criticized at the beginning of last season by declaring the Knicks “always have the second-best player” on the floor.
