New York Knicks: Three possible trade options for Julius Randle

The New York Knicks currently sit at the bottom of the conference having a dismal start to their 2019-2020 season. Julius Randle has recently been rumored to be a piece they’re willing to trade.

Just this summer, Julius Randle signed a Three year 88 million dollar deal that gives him a player option in his final year with the New York Knicks. Since then, he’s putting up numbers just below what he’d previously been averaging. This year, Randle is averaging 17.4 points per game, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 26% from the three-point line. Some of his numbers have taken a dip from his last seasons’ production where Randle averaged 21.4
points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 52% from the field and 34% from three-point range.

For the Knicks, although Julius Randle was not the ideal free agent they wanted to sign going into free agency, Randle would seem like a good fit considering the Knicks were looking to fill in a whole that they had at the power forward position after trading Kristaps Porziņģis. Now, after recent team struggles, there have been rumors believing the Knicks are open to trading their newly acquired free-agent signee in Julius Randle.

As the rumors began to linger, I’ll take a more in-depth look at three possible trade destinations for Julius Randle, as he is one of many players that can be traded since signing in the offseason.

Phoenix Suns

Julius Randle and Reggie Bullock for Tyler Johnson, Darlo Saric, and a Top-5 protected 2020 pick.

In this scenario, the Knicks would get two expiring contracts if they acquired, Tyler Johnson and Dario Šarić. Along with a potential pick in the up and coming 2020 draft. For the Phoenix Suns, they’ll get Julius Randle in return, along with Reggie Bullock, who is a good perimeter shooter. The Sun’s addition of Julius Randle gives them someone down on the low post to go aside with their frontcourt presence of Deandre Ayton. While for the Knicks, this move would probably be made for future cap space and a potential future first-round pick. Anything extra they can get out of Darlo Saric and Tyler Johnson would be a bonus for the Knicks.

Portland Trailblazers

Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton for Hassan Whiteside Skal Labissière and a 2020 1st round pick

This is yet another scenario where the Knicks make a move for their future, as they look to add cap space. We had seen them do this before with DeAndre Jordan last year. The Knicks would receive an expiring contract with Hassan Whiteside’s deal, which comes to an end after the 2019-2020 season. While Skal Labissière doesn’t have to be the exact piece to complete this deal, the Knicks in return would want to get some young talent back. Labissière is only 23 years old, and while this would be his third team In four years, he is still a raw prospect and has some upside to his game. Whatever production the Knicks can get from him can be a deciding factor for his future with the organization. For the Portland Trail Blazers, this probably won’t be the ideal trade they’re looking for, but if they can’t find a package deal for a guy, they have high on their trade target in Kevin Love. Julius Randle doesn’t appear to be a bad fall back option for them.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Julius Randle for Tristian Thompson

The trade scenario that involves the Cleveland Cavaliers is yet another deal that helps the Knicks with future cap space going into the 2020 offseason. Tristian Thompson’s contract is set to expire this summer. A guy like Tristian Thompson may want to be apart of a contending team. The Knicks give him the option to earn a big payout this summer and maybe help with the development of Mitchell Robinson and some of the other younger players.

While the Knicks may be open to conversations about their power forward, I don’t expect that they will settle for any move. The Knicks will expect to get some value from Julius Randle if they choose to pull a trade-off.

Whether that’s cap space for the 2020 offseason, a young asset, or a future first-round pick, the Knicks will want some value in return.