The New York Knicks postseason run came to a bitter end on Friday night, with the Knicks losing their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Miami Heat 4-2 after suffering a 96-92 loss in Game 6. While several players did not live up to expectations for the Knicks, the player who is getting the most heat, and rightfully so, is Julius Randle.

After a rough 2021-22 campaign, Randle bounced back this season to put together the best season of his career (25.1 PPG, 10 RPG, 4.1 APG, 45.9 FG%) while earning his second career All-Star appearance. Randle hadn't been a great playoff performer in previous seasons, but the expectation was that things were finally different this season.

That did not end up being the case, as Randle was awful all series long against the Heat (18.8 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 41.1 FG%) and was the main reason why New York ended up losing this series. The Knicks and their fans cannot be pleased with what they have seen from Randle, so with his ugly postseason in the books, let's take a look at three reasons it's time for Randle to get traded this offseason.

3. The Knicks have a better offensive leader in Jalen Brunson

For his first three seasons with the Knicks, Randle quickly emerged as the focal point of New York's offense. He was a skilled scorer at all three levels of the floor, a strong rebounder, and a willing playmaker, despite playing as a forward. But things changed this season when the team signed Jalen Brunson in free agency to come in and be their new point guard.

Brunson proved that he can be the focal point of an offense after playing second-fiddle to Luka Doncic on the Dallas Mavericks early in his career, and had a fantastic debut season with New York (24 PPG, 6.2 APG, 3.5 RPG, 49.1 FG%). Brunson's existence made Randle more of a scorer and less of a passer, which isn't a big deal, but gave the Knicks a new look on offense.

Randle didn't handle Brunson taking over as the go-to-guy very well at times, and it remains to be seen whether he's willing to work in a complementary role with Brunson. Further pushing this point is the fantastic postseason Brunson just had, where he averaged 31 points per game compared to Randle's measley 18.8. As a result, a change of guard may be needed on offense here.

2. The Knicks haven't proven they can win with Julius Randle

Randle's development from a role-player into a full-fledged star has been impressive, but the Knicks want to see his strong play turn into consistent winning. The Knicks have made the playoffs twice with Randle leading the charge, but to this point, the results haven't exactly been great, and it's beginning to look like New York cannot win with Randle.

While Randle is an effective player, his style of a play doesn't exactly translate well to playoff basketball. Randle doesn't play with a ton of pace, and when the defensive intensity from opposing teams picks up, he often gets burned for it as a result. That leads to Randle looking sluggish and disinterested in winning, which is pretty much how the entire series against the Heat went.

Randle is a strong player, but the postseason proved that this team needs to be built around Brunson, not Randle. If Randle wants to accept being a complementary option, he can stick around, but there's no indication that's the case. If a player is hurting your chances of winning games, it's time to move on from him, and that may just be the case with Randle.

1. Julius Randle has been consistently awful in the playoffs for the Knicks

Randle has only played in three playoff series throughout his career, but during his time in the playoffs, he has been arguably the worst player in the NBA for the Knicks. Despite playing at a very high level for New York in the regular season, Randle hasn't performed nearly as well under the bright lights, which is the biggest reason why a trade makes sense here.

We already looked at Randle's dreadful play against the Heat, but when you include his stats from the other two postseason series of his career, Randle's numbers are even worse (17.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 3.7 APG, 34.4 FG%). Randle isn't making the same contributions in any phase of the game, and his scoring and efficiency take huge drops. Randle goes from being a star to a guy barely worthy of coming off the bench in the playoffs.

There's no logical explanation for this extremely stark drop in production from Randle, but the Knicks cannot win a championship with this type of play from one of their best players. The Knicks appear to be at their wits end with Randle's disappearing act in the postseason, and for that reason, it wouldn't be surprising to see him be on the move this upcoming offseason.