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The New York Knicks have the 9th seed secured in the Eastern Conference at the moment with a 12-13 record, but there aren’t many hopes that the team can go deep into the playoffs with the way the roster is currently constructed.
As of late, there have been some encouraging signs that have seen the team remove Derrick Rose, Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish from the rotation entirely. In the case of Fournier and Reddish, these are players who saw starter minutes earlier this season just to be taken out completely.
It’s still early enough to make changes like that, but time is running out if the team wants to go on a run. At the end of the day, this roster isn’t one that’s going to be winning a championship, and some people are suggesting the Knicks take Julius Randle’s strong start and turn it into future assets.
Knicks Fan TV creator Casey Powell, better known as CP, suggests the team finds a way to ship their star forward out of town.
Knicks Need to Move Randle?
It’s not an original thought by any stretch, but many people would agree the Knicks aren’t going anywhere with Randle being the lead guy, and with him in the first year of a four-year, $117 million extension, his pay might not be lining up with his production.
To be fair, he’s having a strong year so far, but it hasn’t resulted in much for the wins column, and he might be better suited being a third option on a championship team, or something else along those lines. When asked by SNY’s Ian Begley about what to do with Randle, CP was clear.
“Trade, trade, trade,” he said. “If they can find a trade for Julius Randle, they gotta peel it back and trade him.”
The analyst praises Randle for his strong nights, but the issue is they aren’t consistent, and it could actually be hurting the development of some of the younger guys on the roster such as Obi Toppin.
“The Knicks have to focus on their long-term prospects and they’ve got to peel it back,” he continued. “By the way, they spent the number eight pick on Obi Toppin who has been relegated to a three-point specialist.”
Is a Trade Possible?
If there was ever going to be a good time to trade away Randle, it would be now when his value appears to be at its outside outside of his All-NBA year two seasons ago.
Yes, his contract is a lot larger than many teams would like, but he’s still a productive player despite the high price tag, so he can bring a lot to a team. He puts up good numbers on the Knicks as one of the lead options, so it’s likely his numbers would dip in another situation, but his talent isn’t in question.
Another thing about him is he’s rarely been hurt, so teams can count on him for just about the entire season, something that is very valued in today’s NBA.
This year, Randle is putting up 21.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 3.5 apg on 46.4 percent shooting from the floor.
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