3 under-the-radar problems the NY Knicks may face this trade season

NY Knicks problem No. 2) Finding the right fit to have run alongside Julius Randle

Due to his drop-off in production this year in comparison to last, there have been a considerable amount of people who have been suggesting that the NY Knicks should actually look to ship out their All-Star power forward this trade season.

Whether we agree with this narrative or not, it doesn’t really matter — it ain’t gonna happen!

Instead, what almost certainly will wind up happening is Rose and co. will look to do the exact opposite and, instead, scour the trade market for players that they believe would better complement their $117 million man.

With this in mind, a major problem we believe this team will likely come across is finding the exact right fit to have running alongside the 27-year-old which, undoubtedly, will be hard.

Now, this isn’t necessarily an insult, per se, but, to put it lightly, Randle is quite a particular brand of player that needs specific counterparts around him to produce at a level that leads to both individual and overall team success.

Clearly at his most effective when serving as a point-forward for this Knicks team (whether that’s a good or bad thing in the longterm, that’s simply another conversation), in this role Randle prefers to hit the mid-range where he’ll then decide to shoot it with his go-to fade-away jumper, dish it out to the perimeter, or the preferred option, though not utilized enough, use his strength and gun it towards the rack.

Though often we see guys like De’Aaron Fox, Jerami Grant, and Myles Turner being mentioned as potential and, on many occasions, realistic trade targets, we (mainly me at DK) believe the majority of them would simply make no sense for them to pursue, for they wouldn’t end up complementing Randle (a player who needs the ball in his hands, who doesn’t drive to the rim nearly as often as he should, and who struggles to play off-ball) all that well, if at all.

Instead, should the front office be hell-bent on making trades to better support their All-Star, less-often discussed names such as Jonas Valanciunas (can contribute effective inside-out offense and would be a menace alongside Randle in the pick-and-roll) and Jalen Brunson (a high-potential player who has already proven to absolutely excel when playing alongside a ball-dominant star in Luka Doncic) would absolutely be more worth a pursuit.