No. 1. Julius Randle – New York Knicks
At this point in the year, it is hard to not say that Julius Randle has been this season’s Most Improved Player. We have seen flashes over the early portion of his career that he had All-Star potential, but Julius Randle has really put things together this season and as a result, has the Knicks in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
Not only does Randle lead the Knicks in scoring this season, but he leads them in rebounds, assists, field goals made and is second on the team in steals, just one behind Nerlens Noel. Everything goes through Julius Randle offensively for the Knicks and he has surprisingly been an anchor for them defensively.
If it weren’t for the play of Julius Randle, we would not even be thinking about the Knicks being a playoff team. He has single handedly elevated the Knicks back to being relevant in the Eastern Conference and with another young, high-level talent in R.J. Barrett by his side, the Knicks have a very bright future.
RELATED: NBA Trade Rumors: Julius Randle wanted to leave the Lakers when LeBron James signed in 2018
With a projected $60M in cap space this coming offseason, the New York Knicks have the ability to not only bring in another All-Star caliber talent to pair with Julius Randle, but two All-Star caliber players to pair with him.
Whatever the Knicks decide to do moving forward, they are going to be in a great position as long as Julius Randle is on their team. The 26-year-old big man has a great future in this league and is going to be an All-Star talent for many years to come.
