Are Knicks Ready to Move Forward With Julius Randle?

The team's apparent willingness to move on from Obi Toppin suggests Randle still has a part to play.

Many have envisioned Julius Randle wearing a new uniform next season. Unless he's changing his number or the team introduces new threads before opening night, that change of wardrobe may never come.

There appears to be a growing sense that the New York Knicks may be ready to press forward with the $117 million man in tow, even as the team continues to linger in trade conversations. While Randle was likely never destined to be the missing piece in the long-gestating Donovan Mitchell trade with the Utah Jazz, some felt that the team could try to move his massive new contract that kicks in this season. 

But with Obi Toppin reportedly on the trading block, the Knicks are more likely than ever to be willing to ride it out with Randle. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks are "hopeful Randle will be in a better space mentally than he was in 2021-22" and that their apparent willingness to part ways with the eighth overall pick of the 2020 draft "is a sign of their belief Julius Randle can return closer to 2020-21 form when he was second-team All-NBA."

The Athletic isn't fully ready to paint Randle in blue and orange quite yet, but Fred Katz's theory hints such a deal would be redundant, saying that it would require the team to take on a similarly inflated deal. 

Additionally, the Knicks also aren't willing to sweeten any suitors brave enough to take on the contract with any first-round draft picks, apparently opting to save them for the Mitchell deal. One of the most prominent candidates, Randle's former employers in Los Angeles, was said to be uninterested in a reunion earlier this week. 

Randle's noticeable drop-off from a 2020-21 campaign that earned him the NBA's Most Improved Player Award is also scaring teams from taking a potential nine-figure risk, even if the Knicks do explore a potential shift. 

"The four remaining seasons on Randle’s deal have made teams, even ones who believe last season wasn’t representative of who he is, hesitant about acquiring him," Katz says. "(That) is why there hasn’t been any traction on a Randle deal, even though each general manager knows that if he calls Leon Rose & Co., he could likely find a way to acquire the former All-Star."

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags