Julius Randle – New York Knicks

While they did sign Tristan Thompson this offseason, the Boston Celtics have long been needing a reliable center in their frontcourt, which is exactly what they would be getting with a guy like Julius Randle. Not only is he only 26-years old, but he is having the best year of his career and on-track to be an All-Star for the first time in his career.

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. Not only is he amongst the top of the list for best scoring big men in the league, but Julius Randle is one of the best passing bigs in the league as well. 

Julius Randle looks like a completely different player than he has early in his career and is definitely the type of player the Celtics need to match up against the likes of the Bucks, Nets and 76ers in the Eastern Conference.

Given that the Celtics play a brand of “positionless” basketball and put their best four guys out there with a big man, Julius Randle would be a perfect fit because of his versatility and his adaptiveness as a big man.

Acquiring Julius Randle gives the Celtics a lot of options to play around with rotation wise, but it also makes them a much better transition team. Given Randle’s ability to run the court with or without the ball in his hands and his above-average abilities to run the court as a big man, Boston could be a dangerous team pushing the ball in transition. 

Julius Randle has proven himself to be a reliable and high-level frontcourt option with the Knicks and with the Celtics, with two superstars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown calling the shots, he could thrive. In New York, Randle is having to do it all, but in Boston, he could take a step back and really open up his game more.