Lauri Markkanen is reportedly disgruntled in Chicago, and the Knicks should immediately pick up the phone to inquire about his availability with plans to offer the Bulls a trade package involving Julius Randle.
This isn’t an attempt to swindle the franchise that brought New York so much pain back in the 1990s. Nay, a trade that sends Markkanen to the Knicks and Randle to the Bulls could be beneficial for both teams. Now, before you get all uppity about it, a straightforward Randle-for-Markkanen swap isn’t even possible. Firstly, the ESPN trade machine claims the salaries don’t match, and secondly, even if they did, the Knicks would likely have to sweeten the pot to convince the Bulls to part with a promising 22-year-old who is 7-feet-tall and can shoot threes.
But again, Markkanen is supposedly unhappy, and the Bulls reportedly just hired a brand new executive vice president of basketball operations. Maybe he'll look at the Markkanen situation and decide it's best to cut ties and get the best available package. As for the Knicks, Leon Rose was brought in to be team president before the season went kaput, and he's reportedly planning to stick with Scott Perry as general manager until at least the draft, whenever that happens.
You know why front office executives get paid handsomely? To make bold, creative moves that can change the course of a franchise. If the Rose regime could pull off a trade that sends Randle to Chicago and brings Markkanen to Madison Square Garden without unloading the entire stockpile of assets New York has been building, the team would feature an insanely young and talented core who could grow together, and in a few years the Knicks might be one of the feistiest franchises in the league. As always, that’s a big if.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, Markkanen has already displayed abilities that could make the Bulls think they have an upper hand in deal discussions. Although his numbers dipped slightly this year, over almost three seasons in the NBA he’s averaging roughly 16 points and almost 8 rebounds per game, with shooting averages of 43 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and 85 percent from the free throw line.
Before we go on, let’s get reacquainted with what Markkanen can do. You may remember this game from January 2018, when he put up 33 and 10 at the Garden. In particular, pay attention to the pass at 1:18 and the dunk at 2:06.
There’s no question Markkanen is a talented man, but the Knicks have plenty to offer, beginning with Randle, who is a starting-caliber player that posted almost 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game this year. He definitely dribbles too much — as evidenced by this report stating that a bunch of Knicks got annoyed by his tendency to overdribble — and you typically know when he’s about to turn it over because he’s trying to do that dribble spin move he hasn’t exactly perfected.
Nonetheless, 20 and 10 guys don’t just grow on trees. Meanwhile, Randle is 25 years of age. You know who else is 25? Zach LaVine, the best player on the Bulls right now. Two supremely athletic 25-year-old men gallivanting around Chicago, running the pick-and-roll in the United Center? Sounds like a recipe for fun!
Still, the Bulls aren’t going to be completely wooed by Randle, and as we discussed earlier, it’s literally not possible to deal him for Markkanen straight up. So what type of trade package should the Knicks consider?
The following should be off limits in a deal for Markkanen: Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, Frank Ntilikina, and the Knicks’ upcoming first round draft pick (obviously, depending who you ask, the bucket of people who are off limits will vary). Everyone else, including perhaps one of the first rounders the Knicks received from the Dallas Mavericks in the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Kristaps Porzingis trade, ought to be on the table. If you have to throw in a second pick, choose wisely, or walk away from the deal and say the price tag has gone too high.
Some will want the Knicks to hang onto their war chest of draft picks for when someone like Karl-Anthony Towns becomes available, but there’s no guarantee that a bonafide superstar like him is going to be up for grabs any time soon, and the whole point of collecting picks is to give yourself flexibility. And Markkanen is just the type of good young player that could be gettable without giving up the whole farm.
The Knicks currently own the rights to seven first-round picks over the next four years, and parting with one or two of them in order to land a recent top-10 draftee who has already proven he can be pretty darn good isn’t crazy (Markkanen was taken 7th overall in 2017).
As merely one example, maybe something like Randle, Kevin Knox and a pick could bring back Markkanen and Thaddeus Young, the latter of whom is on a three-year deal, meaning the Knicks could claim they are doing the Bulls a favor by taking on an unseemly salary. It would be better if Dennis Smith Jr. replaced Knox in the above scenario, but his stock is regrettably at an all-time low right now.
A Randle-LaVine pairing could be intriguing with the proper sales pitch. And such a deal would give the Bulls a chance to rebuild without completely bottoming out, which is important since the new lottery rules don’t incentivize tanking, something the Knicks know all too well.
This is the type of trade the Knicks should be focused on. Each member of the core would be in their early 20s for a few more years. Barrett could be your go-to bucket getter of the future, and he’d be surrounded by a premier defender and elite lobsman in Mitch, a versatile, defense-first team player in Frank, and a 7-foot sharpshooter whose hometown is across the ocean. Why does that last one sound so familiar? Oh well, can’t remember.
**For more discussion on whether or not the Knicks should go after Markkanen, click on this link and go read an in-depth discussion featuring two of Posting and Toasting's finest:
