Lakers Trade Rumors: Teams Unlikely To Trade For Julius Randle Before Deadline
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The fate of Julius Randle is one of the biggest wild cards left for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. With Randle entering restricted free agency this summer, the Lakers might not be able to keep him while pursuing two All-Stars.

But Randle has also been a huge part of the team’s success, making it hard to deal him because L.A. doesn’t have a draft pick and is de-incentivized to tank. The Lakers reportedly are looking for an expiring contract and draft picks in exchange for Randle if they were to deal him.

However, giving him up for assets that can’t contribute right away might also make the team look less appealing in the eyes of those free agents because of the decline in the team’s record it would likely lead to.

That noted, Los Angeles might also be unlikely to receive those types of offers in the first place, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN:

“The biggest obstacle is that he’ll be a restricted free agent in the offseason. In talking to teams, they feel that instead of giving up an asset or first-round pick for Randle, they can just go out and sign him. Give him an offer sheet in the summer and not give up an asset. … If [Lakers] keep him, that’s an indication that they’re going to retain him when we get into the summer.”

This is one of the first reports to note the Lakers are anything but unlikely to keep Randle, who the team didn’t get far in extension talks with in October due to them not wanting to make long-term salary commitments. Their clear desire is to pursue two maximum-salaried stars this summer.

In order to do that, the team would have to move on from at least two of the three of Luol Deng, Randle and Jordan Clarkson. They would obviously prefer to get out from under Deng’s contract, but that might not be as simple as detaching themselves from the latter two.

And whether or not they can dump or stretch the contract of the former — which would lower the annual cap hit of Deng’s contract but extend the amount of years its on the Lakers books while getting him off of their roster — will affect how they approach Randle’s free agency.

But while signing two max-caliber stars is the Lakers’ pipe dream, it also might not come true. In that eventuality, the front office very well might decide retaining Randle is their best option in free agency while signing either one or zero players to a max contract.

WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCUSSION? CHECK OUT THE NEW LAKERS NATION FORUM CLUB

You May Also Like

Lakers Rumors: LeBron James Made ‘Valid’ Points In Call With Michael Jordan, Team Governors

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James has been one of the NBA’s most vocal leaders for years. That was once…

NBA Rumors: Lakers Used Stretch Provision On Quinn Cook

As a minor money-saving maneuver, the Los Angeles Lakers waived Quinn Cook just before NBA free agency…

NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers Won’t Offer Kyrie Irving Max Extension

[new_royalslider id=”175″] Kyrie Irving has taken the NBA by storm in his…

Lakers Draft Rumors: Arizona Guard Nico Mannion Participated In Workout

The Los Angeles Lakers have done an excellent job in recent years of finding excellent players near the end of the…