Media Round Up: Knicks waive Obadiah Noel, Randle rated 15th among NBA Bigs

According to NBA.com, the New York Knicks have waived guard Obadiah Noel. The team had signed Noel to an Exhibit 10 deal on August 3.

The 6’4”, 196 lb Noel put up decent numbers for the Westchester Knicks last season. He averaged 10.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while going 48.7% from the field and 37.7% from deep. He played just shy of 27 minutes per contest.

Since going undrafted in 2021, the 24-year-old former University of Massachusetts Lowell star has yet to appear in an NBA game. He is still eligible to return to the G-League Knicks for the upcoming season.

In other news, Julius Randle recently appeared on the Bleacher Report’s Top 30 Bigs list. Reportedly, B/R compiled 8,632 votes, then had their “panel of experts” rank the top bigs. (“Bigs” defined here as centers and power forwards.) The top guy? Nikola Jokić, of course.

Randle was rated 15th. Greg Swartz wrote:

Randle made his second All-Star and All-NBA team in the last three seasons, rebounding from a down year in 2021-22 to help lead the Knicks back to the playoffs.

One of just three players to average at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists (along with MVP Joel Embiid and third-place finisher Giannis Antetokounmpo), Randle impacts the game in a number of areas but falls in love with the three-ball (career-high 8.3 attempts per game) too often.

Randle played in 77 games last season and averaged 25 points, ten rebounds, and four assists while shooting 45.9 FG% and 34.3 3PT%. Not too shabby.

The top 15:

1. Nikola Jokić
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
3. Joel Embiid
4. Anthony Davis
5. Karl-Anthony Towns
6. Pascal Siakam
7. Bam Adebayo
8. Zion Williamson
9. Jaren Jackson Jr.
10. Domantas Sabonis
11. Evan Mobley
12. Kristaps Porziņģis
13. Draymond Green
14. Deandre Ayton
15. Julius Randle

How does that ranking sit with you? Disagree? Air it out below.