NY Knicks: Why a Julius Randle for James Harden swap makes sense
Should the Nets consider this NY Knicks trade for Julius Randle?
There’s been some speculation that James Harden doesn’t like living in Brooklyn, so those who are going to rebuttal this idea by bringing that up…
Get real.
It’s a nonsense reason for him not to want to come to the Knicks. But as far as why the Nets do this deal, consider the following…James Harden presents a very real chance of leaving this summer due to all the chaos going on within the organization.
If that were to happen, it would leave the Nets in shambles.
They have exactly ZERO draft picks between now and 2025, and even then, they only have a 2nd round pick that year and another 2nd round pick in 2026.
In fact, they don’t have a first-round selection until 2028.
If they made the trade last year for Harden all for him to just leave a season later, they’ll fall apart at the seams.
They’d be left with essentially a bunch of over-the-hill ring-chasers, a part-time player in Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant whose health has been a concern for the past few seasons.
Losing James Harden for nothing would be a disaster.
Not only does this trade supply them with a Joe Harris replacement in Evan Fournier and a bunch of draft capital, but they get a third star to pair with Irving and Durant.
Knicks fans such as myself have been talking about how even if the front office brought in another star, it seems like Julius Randle has such an ego on him that unless the player brought in is in an entirely different caliber, he’d refuse to take a backseat and let that guy be the team’s #1.
So instead of them trading for someone, why not just trade Randle away to a team that already has guys way out of his league? Kill two birds with one stone.
Forward Paul Millsap and the Brooklyn Nets have agreed to find the four-time All-Star a new team where he can have a greater contribution, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 21, 2022
Lastly, the Nets have mutually agreed with Paul Milsap to find him a better home where he could get more playing time, and in this deal, he would immediately become either the starting Power Forward for the Knicks or at the very least share the playing time with Obi Toppin.