When the much-maligned Julius Randle was the best player for the New York Knicks, before, you know, they eagerly jettisoned him toward the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade and won an NBA championship, he was one of the more underrated fantasy options around. I would marvel at how Randle consistently would be available outside the top 50 of drafts, despite numbers that clearly warranted better. After all, in our game, the numbers are what matters.
Remember, starting with the 2020-21 season, when Randle earned the league's Most Improved Player award, he averaged 23.2 PPG, 10.0 RPG and 5.1 APG for three Knicks seasons. He was durable, appearing in 71 or more games each season, and he led the league with 37.6 MPG that first year. No, we didn't always enjoy the shooting and turnovers, but this wasn't a top 25 option in drafts, either. Randle earned two All-Star selections, and from a fantasy aspect, routinely outperformed his ADP in fantasy drafts.