The New York Knicks seem to have one goal right now, and that’s to clear up cap space to sign free agent Jalen Brunson. Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel have reportedly been brought up in recent trade conversations, but not much has been said about Julius Randle.
Randle’s four-year, $117 million extension that he signed last summer isn’t set to kick in until the start of 2022-23. Fans were screaming for him to be traded during the majority of 2021-22 and that sentiment hasn’t changed. At the end of the year, Randle reaffirmed that he wants to remain in New York, but that isn’t a guarantee.
The Athletic’s Fred Katz was a guest on Seth Partnow’s ‘Callin Shots’ on Tuesday. The episode lasted for a little hour, and during the conversation, Katz dropped some information regarding Randle’s future.
Is Julius Randle going to be traded by the Knicks this summer?
Katz said:
"“I don’t think they’ve gotten anywhere close to what we would even call a negotiation, but in the weeks leading up to the draft they were calling about all these contracts that we talked about from last summer.”"
He went on to say:
"“I know that they have spoken to other teams about Randle, but I think the Randle stuff is way more informal.”"
We know that New York has had conversations about trading Randle, but as Katz said, it hasn’t been serious. And on the topic of Randle being traded during the offseason, Katz said that he “wouldn’t predict that it’s going to happen.” Partnow chimed in to say that Randle will have to first have “a couple months of playing better.”
Randle averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 72 games this past season while shooting 41.1% from the field and 30.8% from the 3-point line. He was a far cry from the player that he was in 2020-21.
He missed the final few games of the year, which gave Obi Toppin a time to shine. It’d be a travesty if the Knicks entered 2022-23 without having a plan for Toppin to receive more playing time. That wouldn’t do any good for Toppin or New York.
If the offseason talk surrounding Randle’s workouts doesn’t amount to a bounce-back season for the once All-Star and MIP, the Knicks may then seriously consider trading him, but doing so wouldn’t be easy. And as for right now, trading Randle doesn’t seem to be something that’s going to happen in the near future.
However, with New York, it’s best to expect the unexpected. We all learned that lesson once again on draft night. That isn’t to say that Randle is going to be traded this summer, but hey, you never know.
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