If the Knicks bow out to the Heat in the Eastern Conference semis and make Julius Randle available via trade this offseason, Mike Valenti says the Pistons should consider making a move for him if they don't win the lottery:
"I’ve always loved Julius Randle, the Knicks do irrational stuff and we know that the Pistons are not going to be anywhere near elite free agents, they’re not going to be anywhere near an elite trade. And I know Randle has been very up and down. If the Pistons don’t win the lottery and if (the Knicks) have soured on Randle -- and there were trade conversations with Julius Randle in February in the New York media -- would you offer the No. 2 overall pick and say, Bojan Bogdanovic, to grab Julius Randle, who’s signed through the 2025 season, makes about $25 million a year? You’re gonna have a 15 percent trade kicker on him, so call it $28 million. Again, power forward, which you don’t have. He’s a unique player, he has his faults, but you’re not going to trade for any player who’s perfect."
Valenti says he'd prefer trading for a player like Randle, who's been an All-Star two of the past three seasons and averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds this season, to picking anywhere but No. 1 in the draft:
"If I’m the Pistons and I don’t win next week’s lottery, I don't want to pick at 2, 3, 4 or 5. I have no interest. So mentally, I’m just working my way toward, who can I go get and are they going to be broken? Probably. At a minimum, they’re going to be damaged. But if they want to move off Rankle, if they feel they can find a better fit, would you trade Bogdanovic and say, the No. 3 pick?"
Valenti adds, "You can laugh at analytics and call me stupid, (Randle's) got the same wins share as Devin Booker. I understand it's not the same sexy package, but he's 24 and 10 a night."
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