Clippers Named Landing Spot for Knicks All-Star

Who says you can’t go home? One anonymous NBA executive speaking to Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports certainly isn’t ruling out the possibility for New York Knicks star Julius Randle.

Randle is facing an impasse in his Knicks career this month: he is set to be eligible for an extension but the Knicks have been very careful about keeping themselves out of second apron territory. A Randle extension could place them in that cursed realm and such a possibility will likely have president Leon Rose and Co. exploring any and all worst case scenario and limiting it.

If the Knicks go the trade route, the exec in question has an ideal destination in mind.

“(The Knicks) do not have a lot of options trying to find a team to take Randle,” the executive noted to Deveney. “But the (Los Angeles) Clippers could (be interested). They want another star for that group. Look around, that is one of the few places where it can make logical sense.”

Randle began his active NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, who added him as the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft. Though Randle struggled to live up to such billing with the Lakers, he has no doubt vindicated such a placement with the Knicks, earning three All-Star invites and two All-NBA nominations with Manhattan’s finest.

The Clippers are coming off a disappointing season, having endured a first-round ousting despite adding the services of James Harden to a group that already featured Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Russell Westbrook. Both George and Westbrook have since moved on and Randle would be a suitable replacement for the former.

Deveney’s report even includes a suggested yield for the Knicks, who would get back Ivica Zubac and PJ Tucker in the imaginary swap. The exec, however, made it clear that the Knicks have no noticeable intentions to ship Randle off … at least for the time being.

“They do not want to give (Randle) away,” the exec said to Deveney. “He’s an All-Star, he has put up numbers, they want him to be treated like that.”

“But that’s a July stance. Maybe that changes in August or September. They need some depth up front, they need a center. With the guys they’re going to be paying, do they really want to give Julius $30 million a year for the next two years?”

With what Randle has brought to the Tom Thibodeau era Knicks, re-upping with him feels like the sane choice. But his medical misfortune over the past two seasons … which has put a damper on a couple of otherwise successful playoff runs … likely makes Rose and Co. wary to make him the recipient of yet another major extension. New York has already ensured the long-term futures of OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson and also inked a deal that will keep Thibodeau on the team’s primary bench seat.

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