The Phoenix Suns should make a trade for Julius Randle
With no clear answer at power forwards, the Phoenix Suns should take advantage of the Los Angeles Lakers over abundance of youth at the position.
One of the many story lines that have been connected to the Phoenix Suns this season, is the lack of production from the power forward position. Both Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender have not done enough yet to warrant big minutes. Each are very young, second year players so fans can’t completely blame them either. With that in mind the Suns could look else where for help at the power forward position. One team the Suns should pursue a trade with is the Los Angeles Lakers based on what Adrian Worjnarowski had recently said.
With Julius Randle looking to be his way out of Los Angeles, the Suns could definitely use the big man’s services. Beyond his ability play both the power forward and center positions, Randle is much better than both Chriss and Bender at this point in their careers.
| Rk | Player | Season | Age | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dragan Bender | 2017-18 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 21.3 | .339 | .282 | .471 | .438 | .889 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 4.8 |
| 2 | Marquese Chriss | 2017-18 | 20 | 12 | 9 | 20.0 | .386 | .379 | .390 | .464 | .778 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 6.6 |
| 3 | Julius Randle | 2017-18 | 23 | 11 | 0 | 18.8 | .614 | .167 | .649 | .620 | .657 | 6.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 11.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/9/2017.
It’s evident that Randle’s much better, but being in the NBA for two more years does give him a stifling advantage. Randle may not be the floor spacer the Suns would envision for the power forward positions, but his other skill set does make up for that deficiency in his game.
Now even though he is a talented player, Randle will be a restricted free agent after this season which will drive down his value. With that in mind, it makes no sense for the Suns to give up a future first round pick or a player worth equal value. Sending a player with an expiring contract and a protected second round pick would be a steal for the Suns, but the Lakers may be unwilling to do so. However, the Lakers do have a disgruntled player with a big contract in Luol Deng. Adding Deng to any deal with Randle will almost certainly get a deal done. Eating salary is a move that Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks did to acquire D’Angelo Russell by also taking on Timofey Mozgov‘s contract and it appears to have worked out for them thus far.
There is one possible trade scenario that could work for both sides.
The Suns would have to make a separate transaction to make the roster the proper size for this proposed deal to work.
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Now getting Deng’s contract will definitely hurt the Suns’ salary cap situation for sure. The Suns could try to flip his contract in a trade, but that may be hard for the team to do this year. The franchise could trade Tyson Chandler at some point this season which will relieve the cap situation a little bit. If the Suns can’t trade Deng either this season or during the offseason, then they could look to either waive him or buy him out of his contract. Deng could definitely look at that option considering there is little playing time in Phoenix and the fact that this team is not close to being a contender. After this season Deng will only have two years left on it and hopefully in two years then they will be ready to truly compete and spend big money on free agents then. The Suns could also use the stretch provision on Deng after the end of this season, though that would leave dead money on the team’s salary cap longer and effect their chances in signing big name free agents.
I’m not saying that Suns’ fans should be excited to take on Deng’s contract. It will hurt if the Suns’ can’t trade him, but getting Randle will help offset that. Randle is a great bruiser down low that has playmaking skills at the power forward. Randle would easily become a long term piece with the Suns. The Suns shouldn’t be looking to add any big names during the next offseason which makes this deal more bearable.
The Lakers could easily buy Greg Monroe out of his contract for the rest of the season or trade him. It gives them long term cap flexibility. At this point, that is probably what the Lakers want the most. Giving up Randle for long term flexibility is the price the Lakers will have to pay. Plus a possibility of a second round pick is not a terrible throw in either.
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Randle is a legit talent that the Phoenix Suns should try to trade for. The franchise could execute a trade like the one above or a different one, however the Suns should not give up any young player or any important draft picks for Randle.