As the Knicks won an intense match in OT against the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, rumors emerged of a trade possibility that would send power forward Julius Randle to the Charlotte Hornets.
The NBA trade deadline is now less than 2 days away. The New York Knicks have just fired tenured president Steve Mills and have handed over full control to Scott Perry. All the pressure now lies on him, to make Knicks fans happy whether that comes from making a move, or not doing anything. Ian Begley reported the teams were discussing players like Julius Randle, Terry Rozier and Malik Monk.
If this move was executed by both front offices, the Knicks would seemingly receive guards Terry Rozier and Malik Monk in the swap. Before we review the pros and cons of this potential headliner, let’s compare the stats between the players on both sides.
Julius Randle in his first season for New York is second on the team with 18.9 points per game. He compliments his scoring with 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest as well. The sixth year player out of Kentucky has started every game in which he has played, and ever since Mike Miller replaced David Fizdale as head coach, his high level of play has become more consistent.
Malik Monk in his 3rd season out of Kentucky has played in 48 of 50 games for ‘Buzz City’ and is averaging his highest minutes per game total at 20.1. Monk has been a severe disappointment for a lottery pick which is backed up by his 25% 3-point percentage on his 3.5 3-point attempts per game, and his 9.1 points-per-game overall.
Terry Rozier is without a doubt most known for being a major piece for the Boston Celtics when they took LeBron James and the Cavs to 7 games in the 2017-2018 Easter Conference Finals without star point guard Kyrie Irving. This season “Scary Terry” is in the 1st season of a 3 year/$58 million deal he signed with Charlotte in the offseason. As the starting PG for the Hornets he’s averaged 18 points along with a little over 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game.
Personally, I really don’t think this move makes much sense for New York. The Knicks only have 15 wins on the season but Julius Randle has been an essential reason why they’ve won almost 15 of those games. Plus, adding Terry Rozier wouldn’t make much sense because the Knicks are currently running three-point guards in the rotation with Elfrid Payton, Frank Ntilikina, and Dennis Smith Jr. who has shown recent improvement off the bench.
In addition, Malik Monk doesn’t really help. His production is lackluster and Damyean Dotson has given the Knicks a consistent level of good 3 and D play as the first shooting guard off the pine.
To me at least, it’s clear as day that a trade with the Charlotte Hornets including these players would make no sense for the Knicks, and could potentially halt the rebuild as Randle still has multiple years and a team option left on his contract.
If the Knicks really want to trade Randle it would be best for them to look else where and maybe try to acquire a first round draft pick. However, I think it’s a vital necessity that the organization holds on this above average talent.