{"id":91815,"date":"2024-08-22T20:30:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T00:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=91815"},"modified":"2024-08-22T20:30:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T00:30:11","slug":"knicks-julius-randle-trade-value-assessed-hectic-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/22\/knicks-julius-randle-trade-value-assessed-hectic-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks Star\u2019s Trade Value Assessed Amid Hectic Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Knicks are now <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/21\/espn-predicts-nba-eastern-conference-standings-for-2024-25\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">considered to be a playoff team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, their roster is in a more precarious position than it seems on the surface. Their offseason was largely successful. Indeed, the front office seemingly achieving every objective except re-signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harteis01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>. Yet, their moves have turned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randlju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julius Randle<\/a> into a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.<\/p>\n<h2>Knicks\u2019 Julius Randle\u2019s Trade Value Assessed Amid Hectic Offseason<\/h2>\n<p>The Knicks\u2019 projected starting lineup features Randle, team captain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a>, then two 3-and-D specialists in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bridgmi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mikal Bridges<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anunoog01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OG Anunoby<\/a>. From there, New York has several options.<\/p>\n<p>They can start <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/robinmi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitchell Robinson<\/a>, an upper echelon rim-protector, at center. If they don\u2019t go that route, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hartjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Hart<\/a>\u2019s versatility and endurance could push him into a starting role. There\u2019s also the possibility that the Knicks turn to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/divindo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donte DiVincenzo<\/a>, whose play last season led to him replacing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grimequ01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quentin Grimes<\/a> in the first unit.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the case, Randle\u2019s role will be far different than he\u2019s used to.<\/p>\n<p>If he has to start at center, it\u2019ll be just the second time in his 10-year career. Unfortunately for New York, he\u2019s 6-foot-8 and a so-so defender. If he starts at power forward, Bridges and Hart could squeeze his PT. Yet, Randle\u2019s played at least 35 minutes per game over the past four seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the situation lends itself to the possibility that Randle requests a trade. With he and the Knicks slow to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/15\/the-knicks-are-choosing-to-wait-on-julius-randle\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">reach a contract extension agreement<\/a>, there\u2019s an ever higher chance. However, when The Athletic\u2019s Fred Katz asked \u201csomeone who works in a rival team\u2019s front office\u201d what Randle\u2019s trade value was, he was told that it\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5712520\/2024\/08\/21\/knicks-mailbag-rotation-projections\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">neutral, at best<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result, a trade involving Randle may be slow to materialize, if it happens at all.<\/p>\n<h3>Are There Any Trades That Make Sense?<\/h3>\n<p>The lukewarm interest in Randle isn\u2019t surprising.<\/p>\n<p>The former top-10 pick is nearing the end of his theoretical prime as he\u2019ll turn 30 years old shortly into the season. He\u2019s coming off a shoulder injury that limited him to 46 games last season. He\u2019s not reliable as a 3-point threat or as a defender. In addition, he makes $59.9 million over the next two seasons, which doesn\u2019t help in the increasingly cap-conscious NBA.<\/p>\n<p>The team that traded for Randle would have to view him as the missing piece. With that being said, multiple contenders could take that stance. The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for a player that can get them over the hump. The Los Angeles Clippers have yet to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a>. A trade for Cleveland Cavaliers center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarrett Allen<\/a> could help them both.<\/p>\n<p>The best trade for the Knicks and Randle could lead him back to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>If the Lakers offer New York a package that includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hachiru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rui Hachimura<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vandeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarred Vanderbilt,<\/a> both teams could solve their problems. L.A. gets their third star, with Randle arguably giving them the league\u2019s best frontcourt. The Knicks get a Randle replacement in Hachimura and a Hartenstein replacement in Vanderbilt. Fortunately for New York, both Hachimura and Vanderbilt are willing to accept bench roles, limiting the chances that egos will clash despite their depth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Knicks are now considered to be a playoff team. However, their roster is in a more precarious position than it seems on the surface. Their offseason was largely successful. Indeed, the front office seemingly achieving every objective except re-signing Isaiah Hartenstein. Yet, their moves have turned Julius Randle into a square peg [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":91864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1608,9,27,26,62,3,4721],"tags":[2941,510,4774,1749],"class_list":["post-91815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knicks","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-clippers","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-jarred-vanderbilt","tag-julius-randle","tag-rumors","tag-rui-hachimura"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}