Does this trade make sense for the New York Knicks?

While it is unlikely that the team will trade Julius Randle, this is definitely an interesting trade offer for the Knicks to highly consider. Randle’s upside is limited at this point and while they could build around him, they are tied down to him through the 2025-26 season and paying him a total of $163.1 million through then. 

This is a lot of money to invest into a player that the Knicks are having internal doubts about in terms of being the long-term face of the franchise, which is why trading him now for value could make sense in the grand scheme of things. 

However, the only way the Knicks would make this trade is if they know that they will have a legitimate shot at landing another All-Star either during the 2022-23 season or in the 2023 offseason. 

There has been some talk about Zion Williamson possibly becoming available for this franchise to pursue and the idea of adding a player like Damian Lillard, Fred VanVleet or another All-Star has not disappeared either in terms of trade talks and free agency in 2023. 

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This trade would allow the Knicks to get out of Randle’s long-term contract, add scoring depth on the wing, replace Mitchell Robinson with Richaun Holmes and it would also let the Knicks be very aggressive in their search for more talent via the trade market. 

If they are comfortable with giving up Julius Randle right now, this is definitely one of the better trades the Knicks should expect to get at this time.