Post#1556 » by Chanel Bomber » Thu Feb 3, 2022 11:20 pm
Randle, Fournier, Walker for Westbrook and the Lakers' 2027 first saves the Knicks (approximately):
3 years/$90 million of Randle
1 year/$19 million of Fournier
On the one hand, the trade makes it harder for the Knicks to operate over the cap, as they no longer have medium-size contracts to add as salary filler in a trade.
On the other hand, the trade saves the Knicks a lot money long-term, and clears the books for the summer of 2023, depending on what they decide to do with RJ and Cam's contract extensions. So it enables them to go back under the cap, without having their future tied to two treadmill players. Not a lot of big-name free agents in their prime the next couple of years though, besides Jokic in 2023 and Booker and Towns in 2024.
It also gives the Knicks a future first they can use in a trade e.g. in a Zion blockbuster.
So I'm not sure what this trade achieves, but I sure like it better than any trade for De'Aaron Schroeder.