Exactly one year prior to his long-awaited Garden return, the highest mark of Julius Randle’s tenure was taking shape.
Randle, who was forging his third All-Star selection with the franchise, dropped 31 points in a Jan. 17 victory over the Rockets.
It jump-started a nine-game winning streak and, within two weeks, the Knicks completed their best month in 30 years.
In those January moments, the possibilities felt unburdened by ceilings.
The Knicks were the NBA’s best team in that window, peaking at a time when, a year later, they’re currently in the midst of a valley.
“That team was incredible, man. I feel like that was the best basketball I had played up until that point in my career,” Randle said in an interview with The Post, opening up for the first time about his five-season Knicks career. “Not just numbers, it was the flow.
“It was like — it was crazy, man. We went into every game expecting to win. Teams would hang around and we would end up winning by like 20 points. It felt like we were starting to get super dominant. We had everything. And everybody’s game was going to the next level. Chemistry was dope. It was unfortunate the injuries happened.
“But that team,” Randle added, “was incredible.”
It was also very short-lived. Randle drove to the bucket against Miami on Jan. 27 and tumbled over Jaime Jaquez Jr., ending his campaign with a dislocated shoulder.
The trade arrived eight months later and Randle, who said he doesn’t dwell on the past, allowed himself to express disappointment about the “What if?” nature of his last season being cut short in New York.
“It sucks,” Randle said about the dislocated shoulder. “I guess we’ll never know what could’ve been. I think the more unfortunate part is everything was a build, a constant build — I feel like all our teams overachieved year after year. And that team last year was our best team. So then to see if we could’ve taken it to where we had a sH๏τ, where we could’ve taken it without all the injuries, including myself. I think that was the most unfortunate part.”
It’s very easy to understand why Randle would’ve wanted to see the process through.
He started it, after all.
The Texas native joined the Knicks when stars were running away, when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were eagerly crossing the Manhattan Bridge.
The Knicks were a dumpster fire, a breeding ground for dysfunction, turnover and false hope.
