Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are a complete disaster right now and heading into the offseason, they are going to be looking at the possibility of trading Russell Westbrook in any deal they can.
The New York Knicks desperately need a point guard right now and while it would be a highly questionable move for them to trade Julius Randle to the Lakers for Russell Westbrook, this may not be a terrible move for them in the grand scheme of things.
Randle’s upside is limited at this point in his career since teams now have the blueprints on how to defend him and the best part about taking on Westbrook’s contract for the Knicks, if there even is one, is that he is under contract only for the 2022-23 season, assuming he opts into his player option in the offseason.
By taking on Russell Westbrook’s contract from the Lakers, the Knicks not only get a chance to turn things around with the “triple-double king,” but they also free up close to $47 million the following offseason, giving them plenty of cap space to pursue players like Zion Williamson, Khris Middleton, D’Angelo Russell, Fred VanVleet and others.
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Not to mention, the Knicks could be highly aggressive in trade talks over the next few seasons and this move would allow them to potentially target guys like Karl-Anthony Towns and Donovan Mitchell in trade discussions down the road.
This is definitely a risky move for the Knicks to make, but at this point, they really do not have anything to lose. Julius Randle is not someone that they can build around for the foreseeable future and taking a chance on Russell Westbrook next to RJ Barrett may be necessary for the Knicks to move forward.
From the Lakers’ standpoint, bringing back Julius Randle gives them a key frontcourt addition not only to become a better rebounding team, but to pair with Anthony Davis in the frontcourt.
Russell Westbrook did not work for the Lakers, but Julius Randle can be a post-up scorer that does not always need the ball in his hands to make an impact.
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He has been a ball-dominant player with the Knicks, but in Los Angeles with the Lakers, Randle could make an impact as an athletic big man who can run in transition with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
