It’s been a decade since New York Knicks star Julius Randle entered the league as the No. 7 overall pick.
The Los Angeles Lakers took the Kentucky Wildcats freshman forward, who led his team all the way to the National Championship as a surprise No. 8 seed.
After 10 years in the league, HoopsHype looked back at the 2014 NBA Draft class and re-drafted them based on their careers so far. Randle moved up in the exercise all the way to No. 3.
“Despite a standout lone season at Kentucky, Julius Randle still took a slight tumble on draft night to No. 7 due to a perceived lack of outside shooting and his unwillingness to pass the ball in college,” HoopsHype wrote. “Few could have imagined how Randle would have blossomed in the NBA, as he’s actually now a plus-playmaker out of the frontcourt, a respectable outside shooter and an All-Star-level power forward overall.”
Only Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid, two league MVP’s were taken before Randle in the mock draft.
On draft night, Randle was selected before Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Embiid, Aaron Gordon, Dante Exum and Marcus Smart. While each of those players except for Parker are still in the league, Randle has proven to have a better career up until this point.
Randle’s career got off to a disastrous start after he broke his leg in his first career game with the Lakers, which knocked him out for his entire rookie year. He played three more seasons with the Lakers, and ended up growing to a strong player, averaging 16.1 points per game in his final season in L.A.
Randle had a quick pit stop in the Big Easy with the New Orleans Pelicans, averaging 21.4 points per game, which allowed him to opt out as a free agent. The Knicks came calling, and that’s when his career truly took off.
Randle has been named an All-Star in three of his five years with the Knicks, and he continues to be an important piece to New York’s puzzle in its quest for a championship.
