Back at the trade deadline in February, the Knicks and Hornets discussed a Julius Randle trade, it just never came together. New York continued to stumble through the season, with the combination of Randle and RJ Barrett — two ball-dominant, inefficient scorers who don’t space the floor — never meshing.
Now officially onto their offseason (the Knicks are not one of the 22 teams headed to the NBA restart in Orlando), New York and new team president Leon Rose remain open to trading Randle, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post in a Q&A.
Undoubtedly the Knicks are open to [trading Randle]. His contract for next season ($18.9 million) is manageable but the downside is he will count $4 million on the 2021 cap if they don’t exercise his team option after next season. The 2021 free-agent class is golden. Randle had his moments as a double-double force and is still early in his prime. But Randle’s defense is below average and it’s been reported here his knack of over-dribbling frustrated some teammates, including RJ Barrett. And a bigger disappointment was Randle lost his magic from the 3-point line (27.7 percent). As David Fizdale noted recently, the Knicks could use a 3-point shooting stretch 4. Someone like, say Kristaps Porzingis.
Quality little dig with Porzingis at the end.
The challenge in trading Randle becomes finding a dance partner. Randle has talent and is a floor raiser for a struggling team — he averaged 19.5 points and 9.7 rebounds a game — but he’s not a consistent All-Star level talent teams are going to build around. Going back to the trade deadline, Randle would have made Charlotte better in the short term, but long term the Hornets are better off going into the draft lottery and adding talent rather than trying to make a late push for the eighth seed.
What role Randle plays for the Knicks next year will depend on the coach Rose hires — likely Tom Thibodeau — and what direction the organization goes in terms of building with youth vs. going after veterans. Rose has a lot of other things higher up on his to-do list than a Randle trade at this point.
