One concern hovering over the New York Knicks this season is how Julius Randle will fit on this year's team.
Randle suffered a shoulder injury on January 27 last season and missed the remainder of the season.
In his absence, the Knicks leaned on Jalen Brunson more than ever while players like Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart admirably stepped into secondary offensive roles. The Knicks battled to 50 wins and made the second round of the playoffs.
Now the Knicks are set to bring back Randle to a revamped squad loaded with two-way guards and wings.
Many in the NBA world have wondered how Randle will fit into this revamped unit. Randle, after all, is a traditional power forward who likes the ball in his hands, isn't a great three-point shooter, and can be lackadaisical on defense.
On "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Simmons recently said the Knicks "need to figure out the Randle piece," noting they don't know what their closing lineup will be.
ESPN's Zach Lowe said on his "Lowe Post" podcast that the Knicks "reinvented themselves" as Brunson's team, and now face questions about Randle's fit.
It's true that Randle is something of a square peg in a round hole on this roster. The Knicks' role players are all multi-positional players who can defend, hit threes, play off the ball, or make a play against a scrambling defense.
But while Randle may not be a perfect complementary piece, questions about his fit seem to ignore a major point: Randle has already proven he can fit with this roster. He has loads of experience with this team.
Randle is entering his sixth season with the Knicks.
He has played with Mitchell Robinson for all six of those seasons. He has played with backup guard Miles McBride for four seasons. This will be his third season playing with Brunson and Hart. He and DiVincenzo played 46 games and 787 minutes together last season.
While Randle and Anunoby only played 14 games together, it was the best stretch of the Knicks' season: they went 12-2 and demolished opponents before both got hurt.
Randle and Bridges obviously haven't played together, but Bridges' malleability is part of his appeal: he's a two-way wing who can spot-up, cut, or handle the ball.
When the Knicks kick off training camp, it's not as if Randle will be a new piece the team is incorporating into the system. He is already part of the system and has logged hundreds, even thousands, of minutes with many of the Knicks' rotation players.
This isn't to criticize Simmons or Lowe (both of whom obviously know this) or to say Randle is an ideal fit with the roster. But the questions about Randle's fit suggest the Knicks are better without him, and that hasn't been the case so far.
The Knicks went 29-17 with Randle last year and 21-15 without him. Injuries to Anunoby and Robinson affected that latter record, but both of those players returned to the floor while Randle did not.
The offense might have looked prettier without Randle — more fluidity, more off-ball movement — but it wasn't actually more effective: the Knicks scored 119.7 points per 100 possessions with Randle on the court last year and 116.6 points per 100 possessions after he got hurt.
New York also didn't make it any further in the playoffs than they did the year before. The Knicks might have gutted out an impressive first-round series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, but as the playoffs went on and injuries mounted for the Knicks, it was obvious that they missed Randle's size and shot-creation.
The Knicks do need Randle to tweak his game to better fit. As Lowe noted, Randle did adjust last season, moving more off the ball and making quicker decisions with it. If he continues that trend this year, it will be hugely beneficial for New York.
It's fair to wonder about Randle's long-term future in the Knicks, as an extension looms. But in the short-term, Randle's return shouldn't raise questions about how he'll fit — his experience with this core has shown that he does fit.