JULIUS RANDLE ON THE TRADE BLOCK

Almost everyone expected the New York Knicks to miss the playoffs come April 2020. However, they certainly not expected for them to be this bad 2 months into the season. Currently, with 7 wins and 21 losses, the historic franchise is headed for one of their worst seasons ever, after missing to struck one big-time free agent in the summer like Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving. The most notable signing they’ve made was Julius Randle, a player coming from the New Orleans Pelicans, who career averages consist of 15.8 PPG and 8.8 RPG. On a 3-Year, €63 million contract, the Knicks recently made him available to trade talks, letting other teams know that they are open to listen to any package coming their way. With that said, which teams could benefit from Randle’s services?

The New York Knicks are reportedly open to trading Julius Randle, per @StevePopper. — Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 17, 2019

1. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

Even though the Grizzlies are packed with a strong frontcourt in Jonas Valanciunas and Jaren Jackson Jr. it could make sense for them to try and trade for Randle. Why? Andre Iguodala is not playing and is currently on the last year of his contract, earning close to €17 million. The Knicks would receive an expiring contract to add to their rebuild while Memphis could add a valuable piece to complement the frontcourt, even using the forward as the main player coming off the bench. It’s not likely this will happen, and neither team has the incentive to do it, but it could be a possibility.

2. DENVER NUGGETS

While the Nuggets are one of the top teams in the league, they’re not quite on the same level as the Lakers, Bucks or Clippers. A move could be made on the deadline to try and improve the roster, and Randle could come up as an option. Draft picks along one of their many assets (Michael Porter Jr, Monte Morris or Gary Harris) might be interesting from both teams point of view.

3. MILWAUKEE BUCKS

Julius Randle and Brook Lopez together have the potential to be a very strong frontcourt. With Lopez providing the spacing, Giannis and Randle would feast on the opening lanes created from the Bucks 3-point shooting ability. The biggest problem is working it out. The only way it could work was if the Bucks were open to trading Bledsoe, something they will probably never commit it, even more after seeing Brogdon walking away to the Indiana Pacers.