Getty Lakers' Darvin Ham and Rob Pelinka
The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly won’t trade for a $117 million All-Star big man.
According to an August 24th report from Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers aren’t interested in acquiring New York Knicks power forward Julius Randle.
“The Lakers aren’t interested in taking back Julius Randle from the Knicks, considering his contract (three years plus a player option on the fourth year) and less-than-ideal fit with Davis and James,” Buha reported. “The Spurs don’t have much to offer aside from absorbing Westbrook’s contract, which is certainly beneficial for the Lakers, but not at the cost of two first-round picks.”
The Lakers drafted Randle with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft. The lefty has career averages of 17.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 518 regular-season games with the Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Knicks.
Randle played with Anthony Davis on the Pelicans during the 2018-19 season and is familiar with the Lakers organization since he spent the first four years of his career in Los Angeles. However, he regressed last season after winning the 2020-21 Most Improved Player of the Year Award.
The Kentucky product had the worst effective field goal percentage in the NBA in 2021-22 and was booed by Knicks fans at Madison Square Garden.
Bleacher Report Proposed Randle Trade in June
In a June 2nd column, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report proposed that the Lakers trade Russell Westbrook, a 2026 first-round pick swap (top-two protection) and a 2027 first-round pick (top-four protection) to the Knicks for Randle and Evan Fournier. Favale wrote that Randle “can be more readily used as a screener” than Westbrook.
“The Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They need to optimize their roster for now. Keeping Westbrook doesn’t do that, and saddling new head coach Darvin Ham with the job of fitting the squarest-ever peg into the most circular of round holes does neither him nor the franchise any favors,” Favale wrote. “Fournier slots in nicely as an outside shooter and complementary scorer. Randle is the more complicated addition, but he shot better on catch-and-fire threes than Westbrook even in a down year and can be more readily used as a screener. Using him to run the offense during LeBron-less stretches also figures to be more effective. Randle at least has a one-year track record of drilling step-back jumpers at an astronomical clip (2020-21).”
Fournier would be a good fit on the Lakers since he’s a terrific shooter. The forward is a career 38.1% shooter from beyond the arc and made 241 3-pointers last season.
However, adding Randle wouldn’t make sense for the Lakers, who need more shooters and defenders around Davis and LeBron James.
Buha: Lakers Should Talk to Pacers & Jazz
Buha believes the Lakers should talk to the Pacers and Utah Jazz. Indiana’s Buddy Hield and Myles Turner and Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic and Patrick Beverley have been heavily linked to Los Angeles.
“Nonetheless, Turner and Hield — or even Bogdanovic and Beverley — are much better than the alternative of standing pat,” Buha wrote. “The Lakers would at least have a chance, even if only a small one.”
According to an August 18th report from NBA insider Marc Stein, James has been assured that the Lakers are willing to trade both of their available future first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 to improve the roster. James, 37, signed a two-year, $97.1 million extension with Los Angeles on August 18th. The extension includes a player option for the 2024-25 season and has a 15% trade kicker.