Trade Scenario No. 1 – Miami Heat

Miami Heat Receive: F/C Julius Randle, F Reggie Bullock

New York Knicks Receive: F Kelly Olynyk, G Kendrick Nunn, F Precious Achiuwa, MIA 2022 1st Round Pick

Early on this season, Julius Randle has single-handedly given the New York Knicks hope this season and while R.J. Barrett is the future of their organization, Randle is the now and is earning every bit of his $18.9M contract this season. He is averaging close to a triple-double for the season with the Knicks so far and is on his way to making his first All-Star appearance of his career.

Randle looks like a completely different player for the Knicks than he has early in his career and is definitely the type of player the Miami Heat needs. When Bam Adebayo went down in the NBA Finals last season, they did not have another frontcourt player that could pick up the slack left behind.

The Miami Heat did draft Precious Achiuwa this offseason and he looks to be a promising young player, but Randle can join the Heat now and immediately give them one of the better frontcourts in the league.

For the Knicks, this trade is similar to the likes of the Hornets trade in that they get two younger talents and a more experienced, older talent. All three guys the Knicks would be getting in this trade with the Miami Heat could definitely play a role for them moving forward. 

Kendrick Nunn finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting last season, trailing the award recipient, Ja Morant, and finishing in front of last year’s first overall pick, Zion Williamson. In his “rookie season,” Nunn averaged 15.3 points, 3.3 assists, and shot 43.9% from the floor and 35% from three-point range.

While he is still growing as a player, Nunn has proven with the Miami Heat that he has the potential to be a franchise point guard, and with Elfrid Payton also in the Knicks backcourt, not all the pressure to succeed will be put on Nunn. 

The same goes for Precious Achiuwa, who has had a fantastic start to his rookie season. Achiuwa has been thrown into the starting lineup at times this season, as the Miami Heat dealt with health and safety protocols, and he has looked like one of the better rookies in this draft class. Being able to play next to Obi Toppin and Mitchell Robinson gives the Knicks three solid and young frontcourt options to build with for the foreseeable future. 

Not to mention, they would have Kelly Olynyk being the older, more experienced player in their frontcourt to set the tone for them. Olynyk has always been an undervalued big man over his seven years in the league and is a big time contributor due to his three-point shooting. Over the course of his career, Olynyk has shot 37.2% from deep and is a legit scoring threat from the perimeter. 

By trading away Julius Randle, the Knicks give up a great young player, but they get the opportunity to expand on their overall roster talent. Getting another reliable and young point guard, as well as a very aggressive young forward could be just what this team needs to lure some big time talent to New York City.