Julius Randle believes the Knicks are “not that far off.”

In an interview on Clippers star Paul George’s podcast released Monday, the Knicks forward reasoned that this past season — when the Knicks won their first playoff series in a decade and were one of the big surprises in the league — showed they are close to being a true contender.

That may be true. It certainly feels as if the Knicks are in a better position now than they were two years ago, when they followed up a trip to the postseason with a dismal 37-win campaign. But there are a lot of dominoes that have yet to fall.

So much went right for the Knicks last season; in particular, teams such as the Raptors, Heat, Hawks and Bulls that were projected to be better than them taking a step back during the regular season. The Heat, of course, also showed how deceiving regular seasons can be by reaching the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed.