Could the New York Knicks trade their biggest offseason addition, Julius Randle, before he plays a full season with the team?
The New York Knicks have been in seemingly every trade rumor and the latest has them potentially shipping away Julius Randle to the Charlotte Hornets.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reports the Knicks and Hornets have discussed a trade that would send the 25-year old Randle to the Queen City.
SNY’s Ian Begley confirmed the report and added the trade talks have included the Knicks fetching a package that includes Terry Rozier and Malik Monk.
Randle is in his first year of a three-year, $63 million deal he signed with New York this past offseason. He is nearly averaging a double-double this season with 18.9 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Despite this, the Knicks seem willing to move him in order to add much-needed guard depth.
Rozier signed with Charlotte as part of a sign-and-trade that sent all-star Kemba Walker to the Boston Celtics. In his first year with the Hornets, Rozier is averaging 18 points with 4.2 assists and 4.5 rebounds.
The other piece of the deal is a sharpshooter in Monk who is averaging 8.2 points off the bench this season. Monk has yet to showcase the lights out shooting that made him a lottery pick in 2017, but at just 22-years-old, his best days might be ahead of him.
While it’s hard to tell whether the Knicks will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, it appears their plan is to acquire a point guard even if that means trading veteran talent.
Monday, there were multiple reports linking the team to D’Angelo Russell and now the Knicks are linked to another big-name point guard in Rozier.
All of the speculations will come to an end Thursday at 3 p.m. ET when the NBA trade deadline buzzer sounds.