Its clear someone other than Thibs manages and helps him with his 'mentals' as he would put it. And in the midst of playoff basketball, you gotta be on the same page, and because Thibs is so laissez faire with Jules, there ain't ever going to be any correction when Jules mentally goes off the rails and starts making bad decisions or his effort wanes.

And when that happens again and again, if the Knicks put Randle on the market, we will never get a fair trade for him.

Yet the flipside is I don't think Randle will ever be in a better situation to succeed, and the fact that he is an A-list Tweener is a boon for us...there really isn't anyone like him...and I think with a better coach, and at age 28, he can actually improve. The skills are there...but fine tuning his role and placing it in an offense that is more dynamic will unlock his final form, so to speak. And that cannot happen with a coach whose playoff record matches George Karl's.