Here Are 4 Teams That Would Even Consider a Julius Randle Trade

Julius Randle can no longer play for the New York Knicks. Through 6 games, Randle is averaging 13.7 points on 27% shooting from the field, 22% from 3 and 61% from the free throw line all while simultaneously taking the most 3’s and free throws and the 2nd most shot attempts. Currently, he is the NBA’s most prolific and inefficient scorer.

But players have slow starts sometimes.

Why do the Knicks need to trade Julius Randle?

With under a minute left in the first game of the NBA In-Season Tournament against the Milwaukee Bucks, Randle completely quit on the team.

Randle chose to pout about Jalen Brunson—who had scored 40 points and carried this team all game—taking a tough shot at the rim instead of passing it to him who was 5-for-20 from the field and was so visibly nervous he was dribbling the ball up by his head like little kids do when they first pick up a basketball.

He then moped up the court allowing a Milwaukee fastbreak ending in a Damian Lillard and-one.

We’re 6 games into the year and Randle has already given up on himself and on the team.

The Knicks need him off this team but unfortunately, there aren’t many clubs in desperate need of an emotionally inconsistent ball hog who makes $25 million this year, $27 million next year and in the third year, has a $29 million player option that I cannot imagine he turns down.

You have to find a team in a highly specific window.

Before we get into specific teams, we have to talk about what organizational situations would even be improved by letting a tornado loose on their SimCity and adding Julius Randle to their locker room.

Why would a team trade for Julius Randle?

If your team is surprisingly overachieving and you want to maximize this short window because you truly believe you can make a Conference Finals run this year. Like, if the Orlando Magic went on a winning streak and wanted to add an All-NBA caliber scorer and rebounder. But not the Magic because 95% of their players are ball-dominant big wings. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are trying to become the next Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown or Paul George/Kawhi Leonard. Julius Randle makes no sense with those combos.

You’re an underachieving team with maybe a coach or GM who is new and trying to establish themselves like Mike Dunleavy in Golden State or a coach or GM who recognizes they’ll get fired if they can’t make the playoffs like the Minnesota Timberwolves.

So who are the 4 teams that would even consider trading for Julius Randle?

1. Miami Heat

Perhaps it’s redundant to have Julius Randle and Bam Adebayo on the floor together but if the Heat want to make a playoff run, they’re going to need size to match up with Boston and Milwaukee. I think they’d much rather have 6-foot-8 Randle out there as the starting power forward over 6-foot-4 Caleb Martin.

I can see it now. Pat Riley sitting in a room rubbing his first NBA Championship ring with his legs crossed and his dusty sleepers falling off his crusty feet, convincing himself he can fix Julius Randle with a strong dose of Heat Culture©️ before putting out his cigar on Udonis Haslem’s back.

When your entire fanbase is convinced you are trading for Damian Lillard and Lillard ends up playing for one of your biggest rivals, you miiiiight feel some pressure to end the Haywood Highsmith experiment early and get a proven NBA forward.

2. Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies haven’t won a game yet.

It’s taken me two days to finish this article and Memphis still cannot score more points than the teams they’re playing against.

Ja Morant being an alcoholic, topless, gun-waving dork and Steven Adams’s knees turning to pencil shavings, morphed a 51-win team last year into the Washington Generals getting punked by the Globetrotters across the country.

I could see Ja Morant coming back and struggling a bit leading to Memphis believing they could take a chance on an All-Star wing.

Memphis has always been a team of weirdos. From Zach Randolph and Tony Allen to Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks, Memphis prefers guys like Randle whose emotions are the only thing stopping them from reaching their ceiling.

Derrick Rose spent 3 seasons in New York with Julius as the cooler, older brother. Maybe they have a good enough relationship where Rose can keep Randle from being an absolute asshole on the court like he loves to do when he’s struggling to make baskets.

3. Philadelphia 76ers

This could go one of two ways.

Either Joel Embiid looks around and declares the Sixers roster isn’t good enough and wants a fresh start elsewhere or the front office looks around and realizes they’re a better team with Tyrese Maxey running the floor without Embiid slowly jogging out of breath behind the fastbreak.

This organization can’t take on another tank operation.

The Process landed them Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and Ben Simmons. One has an MVP trophy while two of the other 3 aren’t even NBA players anymore. You cannot ask Sixers fans to patiently wait through another rebuild while the last one ended in dogshit. It potentially ended with Julius Randle. Yike.

There’s also a world where Embiid doesn’t demand a trade but instead, publicly puts pressure on the front office to bring in someone to help him and Tyrese.

Tobias Harris is averaging 20.5 points on 63% shooting from the field and 47% from 3 so far but he’s in the final year of his contract and when he’s in the proper headspace, Julius Randle is a better basketball player than Tobias.

Something to think about.

4. Los Angeles Lakers

It was reallyyyy hard finding a 4th team for this article. Julius Randle doesn’t improve most NBA teams.

The Chicago Bulls seem obvious. I’ve seen Zach LaVine in trade talks. Maybe they move on from DeMar DeRozan but I just can’t imagine this organization feeling as if they’re stagnant and the best solution to upward mobility is 3 years of Julius Randle.

I was going to sneak the Detroit Pistons in here.

Monty Williams is a win-now coach and they’re a streak away from looking to give Cade Cunningham some help on the wing. Bojan Bogdanovic was supposed to be that guy but the 34-year-old’s body is betraying him. He’s spent this season on the bench with a calf injury. But I think they’d rather develop Ausar Thompson into that player and Randle could stifle Thompson’s game.

But every LeBron-James team has a GM constantly on the phone making calls to other teams to avoid LeBron creating a media blitz based on his unhappiness with the front office. This Lakers team is one LeBron or AD injury away from fighting for their lives to make the play-in game.

It wouldn’t shock me at all if the Lakers packaged Rui Hachumura and D’Angelo Russell or something for Julius Randle and their fans suddenly respect Randle’s All-NBA accolades as they brag about having a guy who can run an offense and create his own shot. I already see myself scrolling past a 7-minute sarcastic Nick Wright rant about how delusional the Lakers are. ¹

Wow, the LeBron, AD, Julius Randle Big 3?? Who’s beating these three in the playoffs?? (Anyone.)

Is there any team who would actually want a Julius Randle trade? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee. Let me know your Julius Randle trade ideas.