Lakers should avoid Julius Randle trade without Luol Deng

Many different trade rumors have surrounded the Los Angeles Lakers. None more talked about than the potential move of Julius Randle.

The Los Angeles Lakers have arguably had the most trade rumors over the last year despite being one of the worst teams in the NBA record-wise. The polarizing prospects of a Los Angeles super team have plagued the true reality around the Lakers. Nobody wants to talk about the rebuilding, young, stars. Instead, it is all about potential, new, superstars.

To be fair, though, the Lakers’ moves have created the narrative that the 2018 offseason will be something special. Los Angeles was willing to give up D’Angelo Russell just to get rid of Timofey Mozgov’s contract. When the Lakers needed a shooting guard, they overpaid Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a ridiculous $18 million to ensure it was just for one season.

All of this has established one trade target above the rest; Julius Randle. Signs of a Randle trade have been stockpiling since the summer, and now, trading Randle seems to be a foregone conclusion.

It started with the Russell trade mentioned earlier. That trade set the bar for how the Lakers would try and do business. Much like they packaged Russell with Mozgov, the Lakers could package Randle with a big contract.

Then was the NBA Draft in which the Lakers selected Kyle Kuzma. At the time, that draft selection seemed to be a depth move to cushion the blow of losing Randle. However, Kuzma’s strong play has established him as the starting power forward on the team.

Perhaps the biggest telling sign is the failure of both sides to agree to a contract extension. Randle is set to be a restricted free agent following this season. With the salary cap in mind, Los Angeles was not able to extend Randle for the money he wanted/deserves.

It wouldn’t be too hard to trade Randle, either. The young forward has shown versatility in the starting lineup, off the bench, at both forward spots and even center in recent weeks. Randle is averaging 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in only 22.5 minutes per game this season.

It is obvious the Lakers are not leaning on Randle’s production as they are bracing themselves to lose him. However, it makes absolutely no sense for the Lakers to part ways with Randle to begin with.

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Randle is easily one of the most talented guys on the roster and gives the team a better chance to win more games. The Lakers reportedly do not want to trade Jordan Clarkson until after the season for this very same reason; why get rid of Randle?

The team is not going to get much for a guy that is going to get paid more next season. There are no guarantees with Randle, what would a team possibly give of value for that? The only value the Lakers can get out of trading Randle is by getting rid of Luol Deng with him.

That is a predicament in upon itself as Deng’s contract is so bad the Lakers reportedly gave up on dealing the veteran. Thus, trading Randle not longer becomes a setup move for some big checkmate, it simply becomes a move that is reminiscent of a tank.

Los Angeles does not have a first-round pick in 2018, they are not going to tank. Trading Julius Randle makes absolutely no sense without Luol Deng involved, yet the Lakers will still go ahead and pull the trigger anyway.

And if they do it will just be another bad move, this time from a new front office. While Julius Randle may not be a Laker next year anyway, the team should be getting the most out of him while they can.