Andrew Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate now running for Mayor of New York City, has not been shy about being a Knicks defector, leaving James Dolan’s club for Steve Nash’s Nets. Yang has been particularly brutal on Dolan.

While he’s not willing to reestablish his long-term Knicks fandom as he runs for mayor, Yang’s tone on his podcast, “Yang Speaks,’’ this week seemed to shift on the Garden’s team — impressed with its 8-10 start.

Yang said the club has “turned the page” with new coach Tom Thibodeau getting the club to “overachieve.” Yang said he believes in Thibodeau because he’s part of Jeff Van Gundy’s “coaching tree.”

But Yang is most startled by Julius Randle, who is playing an All-Star level, averaging 22.7 points, 11.3 rebound and 6.1 assists. With the Knicks facing Utah on Tuesday to end their four-game Western trip, Randle hasn’t missed any of their first 18 games.

“Knicks fans didn’t like Julius Randle last year,” Yang said. “Now Knicks fans are looking at Julius Randle and thinking, ‘wow,’ he’s a monster putting up Westbrookian numbers, handling the ball, making really sweet plays and passes. It’s like, wow, Julius Randle can do that? I’ve see him make Magic Johnson passes, though I’m exaggerating a little bit.”

Yang, whose guest was draft expert Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, even paid Dolan a compliment by saying his two strongest traits are “staying out of the way” regarding management and being “willing to spend.”

Last summer, Yang told The Post, “If James Dolan wanted to truly express his love for New York and his love for the Knicks, he would sell the team.’’

Soon after Yang announced his mayoral candidacy this month, Dolan formed on Jan. 14 a new political expenditure committee called “The Coalition to Restore New York.” He seeded it with $4 million in cash from the MSG Sports Corp. and MSG Entertainment Corp. to run ads and inform New York City on the mayoral candidates.