The Knicks remain open to Julius Randle’s negotiation

Credits: nba.com

At the commercial deadline of February, the Knicks and Hornets discussed Julius Randle’s trade, he never joined. New York has continued to stumble throughout the season, with the combination of Randle andRJ Barrett – two ball-dominating, inefficient scorers who don’t span the floor – never mesh.

Now officially in their offseason (the Knicks are not one of the 22 teams headed for the NBA restart in Orlando), New York and the new team president Leon Rose remain open to Randle trading, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post in a Q&A .

The challenge in Randle’s trading becomes finding a dance partner. Randle has talent and is a raise to the floor for a team in need – he averages 19.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game – but is not a consistent All-Star talent that the teams are building around. Returning to the commercial deadline, Randle would have improved Charlotte in the short term, but in the long run the Hornets are better off going to the lottery and adding talent rather than trying to make a late push for the eighth seed.

The role Randle will play for the Knicks next year will depend on the coach hired by Rose – probably Tom Thibodeau – and which direction the organization will take in terms of building with young people versus veterans. Rose has many other things higher on her to-do list than a Randle trade at this point.

Reportedly, Knicks remains open to trading Julius Randle originally appeared on NBCSports.com