Aloha
Found this today.
t appears the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in reuniting with a player that last suited up for the franchise in 2018.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported during a Spotify live session on Saturday (h/t Darryn Albert of Larry Brown Sports) that the Purple & Gold may pursue Julius Randle if the New York Knicks land Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz this summer.
Stein added that the Lakers wouldn’t mind taking on the remainder of Randle’s four-year, $117 million contract. He is owed $23.7 million in 2022-23 and his salary increases each season until he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2026.
The article went on to say the Lakers could be involved in the Mitchell to the Knicks trade.
Did a little trade machine exercise that worked.
Knicks receive Mitchell.
Lakers receive Randle and Mike Conley.
Utah receives Westbrook, and a couple of the Knicks young prospects. many different combinations work. Of course there would be a lot of picks involved. Anyway it could be another angle.
That works for me perfectly, especially with Randle. I have been yapping about our need for a bruising power forward since last year, and Randle is the perfect prototype. Conley adds another steady leadership and can be relied upon for his shot-making ability and moving without the ball. I will go for this trade in a heartbeat and not look back.
The Lakers should definitely be rooting for the Knicks to land Mitchell as it opens up another option for moving Russell Westbrook. Wouldn’t rank the Knicks as the Lakers best trade partner but it always helps to have multiple teams interested in taking Russ to get the Lakers two draft picks. Right now, it appears the Lakers have multiple teams interested.
The big question, of course, is what are the Lakers willing to give up to move Russ and THT and get back the three or four shooters they need to at least make the playoffs in the worst case or be a legitimate contender in the best case. While the latter may need a miracle, the Lakers having a shot at Kyrie qualifies as a miracle.
Right now, Kyrie and Harris or Curry is Plan A and Turner and Hield Plan B. Not sure where the Knicks and Jazz stand. At any rate, even though it grates me that we might pass on a Russ trade because of a distant first round pick, making a limited trade with Utah or New York that doesn’t make us a contender is probably still a better option than keeping Russ. In my opinion, there is no option that involves keeping Russ.
I have mixed feelings about Julius, both from a fit and a contract standpoint. He’s a 4/5, which we really don’t need. His hot shooting from three appears to be an outlier. And he has a 4-year contract. Julius has upside but he also has killer downside. Utah probably has better more easily moved rotation players than the Knicks. At least that’s what I think now.
Personally, I’d have no problem rooting for Julius as I’ve always liked him as a player and thought he had Draymnd Green potential to impact a game as a small ball five with scoring, rebounding, passing, and defending. In the end, I’d take him over Russ any day of the year.