‘Blockbuster’ Trade Proposal Sends Knicks’ Julius Randle To Mavericks

One NBA analyst proposed that the Dallas Mavericks acquire Julius Randle from the New York Knicks. 

Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report proposed the following mock trade between the Mavericks and Knicks:

Dallas Mavericks Receive: PF Julius Randle

New York Knicks Receive: PF P.J. Washington, C Daniel Gafford, SG Jaden Hardy, 2025 second-round pick (via Toronto Raptors), 2028 second-round pick (via Miami Heat)

Randle dislocated his right shoulder on January 27 against the Miami Heat and missed the rest of the 2023-24 season. He is eligible to sign an extension with the Knicks on August 3. New York could offer the All-Star a contract as large as $181.5 million over four years. 

The 29-year-old Randle appeared in 46 games in 2023-24. He averaged 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 47.2% from the field, 31.1% from beyond the arc and 78.1% from the free-throw line. 

Randle signed with the Knicks in the summer of 2019 after playing for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018-19. He’s averaging 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks in a New York uniform.

The Knicks signed Randle to a four-year, $117 million extension in August 2021. Randle, who won the 2020-21 Most Improved Player of the Year Award, will make $27.6 million in 2024-25. 

Randle has career averages of 19.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.4 blocks with the Los Angeles Lakers, Pelicans and Knicks. He was the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Lakers out of Kentucky. 

“If the Knicks feel like they can’t afford Randle moving forward, or are more comfortable playing smaller and getting Hart in the starting lineup, the Mavericks would be the ideal new home,” Swartz wrote. “A starting five of Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Randle and Dereck Lively II would be the most talented team the Mavs have had since 2010-11, and they’d still have a bench of Maxi Kleber, Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Dante Exum, Dwight Powell and others.”

The Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals in five games.

Meanwhile, the Knicks fell to the Indiana Pacers in the second round in seven games.