NBA Rumors: Knicks May Consider Trading Julius Randle, Frank Ntilikina & 2020 First-Rounder For Devin Booker
In the past months, rumors have been swirling around All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker and his future with the Phoenix Suns. With the Suns’ inability to contend for the NBA championship title or even earn a playoff spot in the deep Western Conference, there are speculations that Booker may consider following the footsteps of other NBA superstars and find his way out of Phoenix this summer. Once he becomes officially available on the trade market, several NBA teams who are in dire need of star power are expected to express a strong interest in acquiring Booker from the Suns, including the New York Knicks.
According to Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, bringing Booker to New York is a “one course-changing trade” that the Knicks could make this summer. In the proposed trade deal, the Knicks would be sending a trade package that includes Julius Randle, Frank Ntilikina, and their own 2020 first-round pick to the Suns in exchange for Booker. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.
The successful acquisition of Booker wouldn’t turn the Knicks into an instant title contender in the Eastern Conference, but it’s easy to understand why Swartz considered the potential deal as a course-changing trade for New York. Booker isn’t just a superstar, but someone who perfectly fits the timeline of the Knicks’ young core of Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, and Kevin Knox. If they grow together and build good chemistry, the Knicks would finally have a realistic chance of fully dominating the Eastern Conference and ending their years of title drought.
Meanwhile, acquiring Randle, Ntilikina, and the Knicks’ 2020 first-round pick in exchange for Booker isn’t bad at all for the Suns. However, Swartz believes that the Suns would only push through with the trade if the Knicks get a top-two pick in the 2020 NBA Draft in which they could use to select either Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball.
“Phoenix probably only considers this deal if the Knicks land one of the top two picks in the 2020 draft, giving the Suns the chance at either Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball. Phoenix would naturally want more, and Randle, 25, and Ntilikina, 21, are still young enough to fit into a rebuild beside Deandre Ayton. Getting Edwards or Ball would give the Suns a new dynamic guard to pair with an athletic frontcourt of Ayton, Randle and Kelly Oubre Jr.”
Bringing Booker to New York may just be a pipe dream for the Knicks right now, but lots of things could happen between now and the 2020 NBA offseason. If Booker isn’t available, the Knicks still have a plethora of trade assets to chase other superstars who would be available on the trade market and enough salary cap space to go after big names in the 2020 NBA free agency.
