Saying Randle IS a better player than Lucas is reasonably flippant.
Maurice Lucas was a force of nature. He did things that didn't show up in a box score.
Like what Oakley and Mason did on D...just conveying a certain sense of attitude as to no wire hangers, no layups, no uncontested hoops.
Lucas was a LEADER and an ENFORCER, and everyone knew Maurice had their back.
Bo, I think it is way early to be dismissing Randle on any level, and the good stats lousy team diss is a bit much. He has gotten better every year. Check out some of his highlight reels on YouTube. He is an excellent passer, very graceful going to the basket strong or with finesse, and his outside shot is for real. He is a rock solid 6'9" 250, and will get you 20-8-3 night in and night out. In The NBA. That ain't chopped liver.
As for his defense, well, that remains to be seen. And how the Knicks "Culture" evolves along those lines. With Taj at PF and Morris at SF, we are certainly raising the bar in that regard.
As for Burke and Mudiay superseding Frank, while some arguments could be made along those lines, and surely more consistent floor time would've been to Frank's benefit, his offense was up and down, and it seems like every time he got into some sort of rhythm, he could not sustain it, OR GOT HURT.
As for Fizz, Berman's article on the Knicks KULTURE, seemed like something of a message pitch...you could hear Mills and Perry talking, but not see their lips moving.
Of course, it was not Fizz's decision to cut Kornet, Mudiay, Vonleh, Herzonja loose. I don't necessarily see that as an indictment of either the coaching or the culture, more like, BACK TO THE FUCKING DRAWING BOARD.
PF/C: Portis > Kornet
PG: Payton > Mudiay
PF: Randle > Vonleh
SF/PF: Brazdeikis > Herzonja
Seems to me, much as I liked our alumni Luke, Emmanuel. Noah and Mario, that Bobby, Elfrid, Julius and Ignas are significant upgrades. Still, I think our ex-Knicks should do well on their new teams, and that Fizz did improve their games.
We shall see.