The Knicks Have Left Julius Randle Behind…

The Knicks Have Left Julius Randle Behind…

the New York Knicks have had a crazy off season all of which I’ve covered on this channel they traded for Mel Bridges in a massive win now move they brought back Jaylen Brunson on an extension that’s really going to help them in the longterm in terms of their payroll they lost Isaiah hartstein despite offering him as much money as they possibly could but there is one gigantic piece on this team that has just been completely forgotten and that’s Julius Randall and there’s three reasons why Julius Randle is a massive deal this season for one thing he’s a three-time Allstar two-time all NBA guy that just nobody is really including in no calculus at all for what the Knicks might possibly be this season the second reason is for what the Knicks might possibly be this season I currently have them as the second best team in the Eastern Conference I have them as better than Philadelphia better than Milwaukee only behind the literal NBA champions in the Boston Celtics the Knicks are real legit Conference Finals and finals contenders and the third reason is because even with all of those things said Julius Randle being forgotten multiple time All-Star all NBA guy how good the Knicks look to be he might not be on the roster when the season starts and this is just a very odd situation because it’s not common for a player that has the career accolades that Julius rle has on a team that looks to be as good as the Knicks are going to be this upcoming season is just basically completely forgotten and the reason for that of course is because he was hurt when the Knicks made their run through the postseason when they kind of captured a lot of people’s hearts in the postseason they played some of the most entertaining playoff games of any team and what was a pretty boring playoffs Julius Randle was nowhere to be found now he wasn’t alone the Knicks had a a ton of guys injured throughout that run but it showed you this version of the Knicks with ogan and Obi now adding male Bridges where it’s all built around Jaylen Brunson and that makes you wonder where exactly Julius Randle now Falls in that hierarchy because when they added Jaylen Brunson in free agency the concept was him and Randall together nobody thought that they were getting an all-nba caliber player a top 10 player in the league in Jaylen Brunson and now that he is that it puts randle’s role in question and the other part of this that makes this wildly complicated is Randle is technically a 2025 free agent he has a player option in the summer of 2025 and so if he wanted to he could test the Open Market in an offseason which there are going to be a good amount of teams with cap space more teams than had cap space this most recent season so Randle has a little bit of Leverage here as well and for a team that looks as good as the Knicks look to be this upcoming season and everything feels really settled despite all these giant moves that they’ve made this offseason there’s one piece that isn’t really fully settled and of course that’s julus Randall and in randle’s time in New York he’s kind of always been in this weird spot where even when he took the team to new heights and and was really good and they went to the postseason then he wasn’t very good in the postseason and then you know fans and people around the league expected him to possibly get traded basically since his first season in New York Randle was pretty much always been a trade rumor guy anytime that Nicks looked to possibly make a big move bring in a star Julius Randle was always the guy and now that they’ve made their big move by bringing in Mel Bridges and it didn’t include Julius Randall the question now becomes are they still looking at trading Julius Rand now the question of course is for who now one of the main rumors that has been thrown out there and I’ve seen a lot has been Carl Anthony towns this concept of having a floor spacing big man in New York where everything is run around Brunson then you’ve got cat as another offensive threat Mel Bridges OG and Obi they have the defensive infrastructure to make it work and if they kept someone like Mitchell Robinson in the deal they could also play cat at the four as he’s gotten more accustomed to that in Minnesota and that as a concept makes a lot of sense for the Knicks and if they were to do that Julius Rand would have to be in the deal whether he goes to Minnesota or elsewhere his salary would have to be there and there’s long been rumors about the the the thought process of maybe Carl Anthony towns is the piece that gets moved out of Minnesota and that New York would be a spot that would make a ton of sense for him the problem is I haven’t seen a single credible rumor linking the Knicks to Carl Anthony towns or the concept of Carl Anthony towns getting traded in general like yes there’s some random post about hey this is a trade that could happen but in terms of credible Insider sourced rumors none of that stuff is out there for two reasons one Minnesota is coming off their best season in franchise history prior to having Anthony Edwards on the roster Minnesota has made the playoffs once without Kevin Garnett on the team and that was the Jimmy Butler season so for them to go as far as they did for at certain points in the playoffs last year for them to be considered the favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals there’s just no way that they’re going to go into the offseason say you know what let’s go ahead and change everything up and completely remake our roster in trade away Carl Anthony Towns now partway through the year if they’re disappointing or potentially next offseason yes that’s a realistic option but as we discussed Randle is going to have a player option next off season so if it gets to that point I don’t really see how that helps Minnesota and the other reason is the Knicks probably don’t have the assets to bring in someone like Carl Anthony towns after the Mel Bridges trade they still have a couple of extra first round picks that are not their own because they owe almost all of their own uh to the Nets but they do have some pick swaps and some extra first from some other teams as well but probably not enough to get someone like Carl Anthony towns even if Randall is in the deal so that to me seems unlikely despite the fact that it seems to be everywhere on the internet from non-credible sources and speaking of credible rumors I can’t find anything on what the Knicks plan to do with Julius Randle whether that be in a trade or otherwise he is extension eligible over the next couple of weeks in early August he is no longer able to sign that extension they’ll just have to go into the season in terms of trade stuff whether it’s Carl Anthony towns or otherwise I can’t find anything and that’s what I mean by him being the most forgotten guy in the NBA and to me what that means is the Knick’s plan for Julius Randle this season is just to figure it out they’re going to have Brunson OG Bridges all the other Nova guys Mitchell Robinson at the five and they’re going to see if it can work they’re going to see if Brunson Plus Randall plus these other guys that are going to need the ball like Mel Bridges they’re going to see if that kind of roster construction works there’s a real possibility that his bruising style his ability to get to the rim uh if he can shoot pretty well from three there’s a real possibility that having him as another really good offensive player not great but really good offensive player alongside Brunson and whatever playmaking creation you get from someone like Mel Bridges there’s a real possibility that that is an asset for the Knicks and then he declines the player option in 2025 they resign him because Bridges and Brunson have taken smaller deals and then all of a sudden they’re off and that is just their team there’s also the possibility that he can play some small ball five for them and some really interesting lineups if uh you know just as the backup five because right now it’s Mitchell Robinson and not a whole lot else and you know you can’t count on Mitchell Robinson’s health I still think that there is a role for Julius Randall on again what I think is the second best team in the Eastern Conference this upcoming season but if at any point their year starts to go poorly or they disappoint or they’re not where they’re supposed to be Randall is going to be the guy that continually gets pointed to and blamed and is also the easiest piece for them to move even if it isn’t an exchange for someone like Carl Anthony Towns at the deadline his salary is not that big they have some other assets and if they just wanted to replace his spot in the lineup Randle is an easy place to look and there are just so many variations of this situation that makes it interesting because what if they’re not having a great year and they just trade Randall for a five let’s say Mitchell Robinson’s hurt they need a five they trade Randall for just you know clink capella or something right let’s just say that for example is that a better more streamlined lineup for the Knicks because now everything is just run through Brunson and the other perimeter guys you really can’t overestimate the pressure that a high expectation Nicks season could have on this team as well as potential roster moves this is not a patient fan base and arguably not a patient organization either and I would not be surprised if they make some kind of massive move in the middle of the Year involving Julius Randle if things aren’t going well but the bottom line is if you see a rumor out there right now about Julius Randall about a possible trade about what the Knicks plann to do I would be surprised because I haven’t found anything and that is just very very strange to me for a team that has made so many moves for a team that is as high profile as the Knicks are for there to be basically no information out there around arguably their second best player you can make that argument it’s either Bridges or OG for a team that has as high expectations as the Knicks do is very very interesting to me and for right now my prediction is that the Knicks are just going to keep Randall they’re going to figure it out they’re going to see what this group looks like because they only had OG for part of the year last year they brought in bridges they’ve changed their roster around significantly and if Randle can assimilate himself into that well I still think that he is an asset for the Knicks and a player they could potentially look to bring back impossible free agency next off season but all of that Still Remains to be seen for the most forgotten guy in the league right now

New York Knicks forward Julius Randle is the most forgotten player in the NBA.

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