Whether you can’t stand the sight of him any longer or if you’re a Julius Randle apologist, one thing can’t be denied and it’s that he hasn’t been able to come close to replicating the magic that was the 2020-21 season for the New York Knicks.
After setting the world on fire last year by winning the Most Improved Player award and willing the Knicks to the fourth seed, along with their first playoff berth in nine years, Randle came plummeting back down to earth this season.
Some point their finger at his contract extension and consider that as the reason why he fell off so hard. It’s a tale as old as time…a player who had moderate success in the league overachieves in a contract year and gets the bag.
Others point to last season being so heavily affected by the pandemic and not having to play in front of crowds as the reason for Randle’s success. Whatever the reason, it seems like the guy just isn’t happy in New York and a lot of the fans don’t want him around, either.
Is Julius Randle going to get traded by the New York Knicks?
Randle’s body language and overall attitude have come into question on numerous occasions throughout the season. In a winning effort against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference on Monday, he simply didn’t care.
In fact, he did the opposite of care. Randle acted like he just lost the game and got all bent out of shape. His days in New York City are numbered.
After the linked video made its rounds across the Knicks’ Twitterverse, an interesting but unconfirmed rumor began to swirl.
If you fast forward to the 9:15 mark of the above video, you’ll hear some juicy yet unsubstantiated details about how Randle reportedly wants out of New York and could be requesting a trade this summer.
It seems as if the team is no longer his and now belongs to RJ Barrett anyways, so perhaps the right move to make would be to send Randle off to a team that he’d be more comfortable on. The Knicks could then build the future of the roster around the young core.
I’ll be discussing a few of the teams around the league who I believe could be a landing spot for the former All-Star if his tenure in New York ends in a trade.