The New York Knicks look like a team that is prime to make a big move this NBA offseason. The 2021-22 season was a disappointing one when you take into consideration how well the team played during the 2020-21 season when they earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
There is a lot that went into the team underwhelming this season. Their offseason moves haven’t panned out for the most part as injuries and ineffectiveness caused some lineup changes throughout the season. The team is playing much better now, as they are riding a season-high four-game winning streak as Tom Thibodeau has been forced to use the younger players and the results have been positive.
There will be a lot of what-if questions asked this offseason about the team. What if Thibodeau had made these changes earlier, not out of necessity but because of ineffective players? Given some of the teams they have defeated, it would be hard to argue that the win-loss record wouldn’t be drastically different.
Another topic of discussion will be what to do with Julius Randle. He has shown some flashes of the player that carried New York to the postseason in 2021, but not consistently enough. More often than not, he looks unengaged and lackadaisical. Rumors about a potential trade this offseason will certainly pop up again.
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If the New York Knicks are going to trade Randle, they have to figure out what they want to do. Would it be to retool the roster, or would they use this as an opportunity to dump some salary? In a proposed deal that would send Randle to the Portland Trail Blazers, it would be the latter.
New York would send Julius Randle and Evan Fournier to Portland in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Keon Johnson, a 2023 first-round pick that is lottery-protected, and a 2022 second-round pick. This would be a salary dump for the Knicks, getting out from two contracts they signed in the 2021 offseason.
Bledsoe’s contract is not fully guaranteed for the 2022-23 season, so they could waive him unless they see him as their starting point guard for next season. Johnson was a first-round pick of the Knicks in the 2021 NBA Draft but was traded to the LA Clippers on draft night.
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There are undoubtedly some fans that would be disappointed by such a package, as Julius Randle should have some value given his relatively fair contract and production. But, this is a deal that would provide the Knicks a chance to truly rebuild the roster around RJ Barrett and their younger players.
Trading Fournier opens up a lot of minutes for Quentin Grimes and Cam Reddish on the wing. Immanuel Quickley could also see an uptick in minutes given his ability to play off the ball. At the end of the day, that is what most fans want to see; the younger guys getting a real chance to play, which we have seen in recent weeks with positive results.
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New York would also add another young player in Johnson and some more draft capital to build a package to go hunting for an All-Star on the trade market such as Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz. New York Knicks fans should be rooting for an early Jazz exit from the postseason if they want any chance of seeing Mitchell don the orange and blue next season.
