Getty Julius Randle #30, Jalen Brunson #11 and RJ Barrett #9 of the New York Knicks address the fans in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd threw out a wild trade idea for the Los Angeles Lakers that could form a new dynamic tandem in New York.
Cowherd suggested swapping Anthony Davis for Knicks duo Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, reacting to Davis’ inconsistent playoff performance that doomed the Lakers in the Western Conference finals.
“I think you got to take a call on [Davis], and I think this is the stretch he has tremendous value,” Cowherd said in his instant reaction on his podcast network The Volume. “I look at a team like the New York Knicks, and they don’t have much to give, but could you get an RJ Barrett [and] Julius Randle [for Davis]? That sounds horrible. But RJ is gonna give me a lot of games. Randle is gonna give me a lot of games. Between the two, I’m gonna get fairly consistent points.”
“Again, on the surface, it sounds like an absolutely horrible move, and I’m just throwing it out there but with [Jalen] Brunson giving you 70, 65 games — [Davis] would be a great player in a New York and I think maybe [for the Lakers] you have to go get in a couple of guys to give you real consistent solid B plus play,” Cowherd added.
A Brunson-Davis tandem in New York could give the Knicks a real shot at winning, at least the Eastern Conference.
Davis played 56 games this season, the most he’s played since appearing in 62 regular-season games during his first year with the Lakers. He produced 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.0 blocks. But he was outplayed by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic in Denver’s sweep of the Lakers.
However, there is no indication that the Lakers will move Davis, who has two more years left on his five-year, $189.9 million deal. But with LeBron James hinting at retirement, it will be interesting to watch how the Lakers will navigate this offseason with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads.
Knicks Eye Joel Embiid to Pair With Jalen Brunson
ESPN’s NBA insider Tim MacMahon said the Knicks believe that a Joel Embiid trade could make them a legitimate title contender.
“[With] Donovan Mitchell [last summer], they decided not to go all in,” MacMahon said on the May 15 episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast. “They were willing to go a lot in, [but] they did not go all in because they did the calculus — or whatever you want to say — and did not feel like getting Donovan Mitchell to pair with Jalen Brunson put them in a championship position.
“I am pretty confident in saying that they feel like putting Joel Embiid on that roster with Jalen Brunson as their second-best player would give them a legitimate chance to win championships, and I believe that to be true despite the fact that what we just said about Joel Embiid and his history of playoff disappointments,” MacMahon added.
NBA Insider Shuts Down Joel Embiid-to-Knicks Rumors
NBA Insider Marc Stein doused the Embiid-to-the-Knicks rumors spreading like wildfire.
“Embiid to New York is strictly in the media chatter phase as we speak,” Stein said during Friday night’s chat with his Substack paid subscribers. “There are no legs to it … YET. Could that change? Of course.”
There are no indications that Embiid will hit the trade market this summer. But the uncertainty in Philadelphia — the firing of Doc Rivers as their head coach, and with James Harden‘s free agency looming — have fueled the Embiid trade rumors.