The New York Knicks have the rumor mill spinning. The big names that are rumored to being linked to the Knicks are now Joel Embiid and Donovan Mitchell. Also, the possibility of shipping Julius Randle is back in the news.
NY Post’s Marc Berman suggests that Leon Rose could be open trading Randle, despite his CAA relationship. The Knicks could’ve traded Randle to Charlotte before the trade deadline but they didn’t pull the trigger.
Knicks fans appear be on board with trading Randle. He doesn’t fit the system and holds onto the ball to long. Randle tends to play more one-on-one ball than team ball. His shooting also regressed only making 27.7% of his attempts. Randles play is only hurting the development of RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson.
Some Knicks teammates expressed their disgust with his play as well. It’s odd to want to trade away a player that averages 19 points and 9 boards but it hasn’t panned out like people thought.
Rose has to decide if Randle is a fit for the future with the Knicks. As of right now, if doesn’t seem like Randle will be in mix. He’ll not brought back after his contract is up after the 2021-22 season if he remains a Knick.
More rumors that shouldn’t be talked about are trading for Donovan Mitchell and Joel Embiid. The Sixers are open to dealing Embiid but will want a haul. The same goes for Mitchell. It’ll take a lot more than Barrett or Robinson and 2 upcoming 1st round picks, like hypothetical trade talks have suggested. If the Knicks were to trade for either, there won’t be any good players left to pair with.
The best thing for Rose to do is build around Barrett and Robinson. Fans will have to deal with one more season of Randle unless Rose has some tricks up his sleeve. The New York Knicks need Rose to make some magic happen for them to be contenders in the near future.