The Nets are among the teams interested in signing Lakers forward Julius Randle to an offer sheet, according to an article on NetsDaily. Brooklyn would like to reunite D’Angelo Russell with Randle, who is a close friend and one of the few Lakers who showed support for Russell when Magic Johnson publicly questioned his leadership abilities. They also share the same agent in Aaron Mintz.
A few things will have to break the Nets’ way for them to have a shot at Randle. The Lakers will have to land both LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, limiting what they would be willing to spend on their restricted free agent, and the Mavericks, who are also known to covet Randle, would have to use most of their cap room to sign DeAndre Jordan.
Even if those dominoes fall into place, the Nets still have to trim some salary to come up with an offer sheet that starts in the $12MM to $15MM range. The article states that sweeteners such as up-front money and trade bonuses could be included to make it more difficult for the Lakers to match. To create cap room, the author adds, the Nets would have to get Dwight Howard to accept a buyout in the next few days and trade either Jeremy Lin or DeMarre Carroll.
There’s more today out of New York:
- Even though the Nets decided against a qualifying offer for Nik Stauskas, that doesn’t mean he’ll be in a different uniform next season, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn views Stauskas as a lower-cost alternative if Joe Harris leaves in free agency, where he is expected to get a deal three to four times higher than his $1.5MM salary for 2017/18. Mark Bartelstein, who serves as the agent for both players, isn’t sure the decision will come down to one or the other. “We’ll see how things play out over the next two days,” he said. “We’ll be keeping the lines of communication open for the next few days. I know the Nets like Nik a lot. We’ll see how the roster shapes up.”
- Pacers center Myles Turner could be the Knicks‘ top free agent target next summer, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now. Turner will be a restricted free agent if he doesn’t sign an extension with Indiana this summer. His family lives in New York, and he and Kristaps Porzingis are friends. Begley lists Terry Rozier and Malcolm Brogdon as other names to watch in 2019.
- James Dolan has denied rumors that he is thinking about putting the Knicks up for sale, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Madison Square Garden Company released a statement Friday night saying, “There are no plans to sell the Knicks or the Rangers.”
This would be hilarious… Randle gets max offer from Nets. LAL trade Deng and Kuzma or Ball to the Nets for peanuts.
Russ, Kuzma, Ball, Randle replaces every draft pick lost in the Celtics trade.
I really like Randle. I wish the Lakers could sign PG and Lebron and stretch or trade Deng so they can bring back Randle. In today’s NBA he can play PF and Center and with losing Lopez we need a center.
I’d like to think the Knicks would target at least some guys who are actually going to be available (UFAs). Turner is no more likely to be available than KP. Rozier and Brogden I guess would be available if Mills can come up with another THJ type offer sheet, but how many 20 mm back up guards do we really need? Nice to know that KP and Turner are friends though, it might matter (a tiny amount) in 4-5 years when their rookie extensions come to an end.
I really like JR, cannot say that I rather Kawhi over him, overall yes is a better player, but doesn’t fit so well with the Lakers if PG13 & LBJ come, too many SF, I think the Lakers have to first keep their home grown talent then bring more, you cannot get rid of your guys to bring others in.