B) He returns and starts again... Randle resumes his struggles and we end up dumping him at the deadline. Season progress is impacted collaterally and the team struggles much like last season (before the end when it was mostly youths).

C) He returns and regains some of his previous form, but the team continues to struggle and we are back to being a fringe playoff team.

D) He returns and struggle early on - Thibs puts him to the bench more and eventually Randle becomes our 6th man - Randle is successful.

E) He returns but after preseason he refuses to play/wants out until he's traded... Knicks sell lower in trade. Obi starts in his place.

Not mentioned about is the fact that most every night the fans will be chanting for Obi and booing Randle every time he plays poorly, doesn't hustle and/or gives the fan negative attitude. His margin for error will be smaller then in previous seasons.

There may be other possibilities but it looks very unlikely that Randle returns and we aren't revisiting trading him at the deadline.

Thoughts??

jskinny35 wrote:A) He gets traded - we hopefully receive a decent return.

B) He returns and starts again... Randle resumes his struggles and we end up dumping him at the deadline. Season progress is impacted collaterally and the team struggles much like last season (before the end when it was mostly youths).

C) He returns and regains some of his previous form, but the team continues to struggle and we are back to being a fringe playoff team.

D) He returns and struggle early on - Thibs puts him to the bench more and eventually Randle becomes our 6th man - Randle is successful.

E) He returns but after preseason he refuses to play/wants out until he's traded... Knicks sell lower in trade. Obi starts in his place.

Not mentioned about is the fact that most every night the fans will be chanting for Obi and booing Randle every time he plays poorly, doesn't hustle and/or gives the fan negative attitude. His margin for error will be smaller then in previous seasons.

There may be other possibilities but it looks very unlikely that Randle returns and we aren't revisiting trading him at the deadline.

Thoughts??

I’m hearing it’s likely he returns. Because the FO understands his value is low and they may not be able to move him unless it’s a deal in our favor. And other teams think we are desperate and ready to move him for the low. What’s crazy is he put up 20 and 10 on a down year 🤔

I think he’s coming back

blkexec wrote:

jskinny35 wrote:A) He gets traded - we hopefully receive a decent return.

B) He returns and starts again... Randle resumes his struggles and we end up dumping him at the deadline. Season progress is impacted collaterally and the team struggles much like last season (before the end when it was mostly youths).

C) He returns and regains some of his previous form, but the team continues to struggle and we are back to being a fringe playoff team.

D) He returns and struggle early on - Thibs puts him to the bench more and eventually Randle becomes our 6th man - Randle is successful.

E) He returns but after preseason he refuses to play/wants out until he's traded... Knicks sell lower in trade. Obi starts in his place.

Not mentioned about is the fact that most every night the fans will be chanting for Obi and booing Randle every time he plays poorly, doesn't hustle and/or gives the fan negative attitude. His margin for error will be smaller then in previous seasons.

There may be other possibilities but it looks very unlikely that Randle returns and we aren't revisiting trading him at the deadline.

Thoughts??

I’m hearing it’s likely he returns. Because the FO understands his value is low and they may not be able to move him unless it’s a deal in our favor. And other teams think we are desperate and ready to move him for the low. What’s crazy is he put up 20 and 10 on a down year 🤔

I think he’s coming back

I hear you and hope you're wrong but if so - how does he come back? Business as usual and he resumes his starting role as ball dominant PG at the PF slot? I can't see that working unless he plays at the level he did two seasons ago (and that's kinda unfair to him). Thibs wouldn't likely bench him even though he could be the 6th man of the year and it may be best for our current roster going forward.

His value is quite low but I just can't see the FO bringing him back as a starter again... like last season didn't happen and pretending everything is normal. It seems like if we would just be wasting 1/2 a season and delaying the inevitable (eg trading him at the deadline). I guess if the FO was more transparent it could help as Randle may have had some personal issues going on last year that would make it easier to emphasize with his behavior, attitude and lackluster play last season.

Randle has to be traded in the offseason, even if it's for Westbrook.

wargames wrote:What if he returns and plays great?!?!

I don't see this happening at all. I think Randle will get worse and worse. You think he's value is low now? It's going to get lower and lower the more this front office fools themselves into believing in this fraud. Trade him NOW for whatever you can get! It's an addition by subtraction.

martin wrote:

SergioNYK wrote:

wargames wrote:What if he returns and plays great?!?!

I don't see this happening at all. I think Randle will get worse and worse. You think he's value is low now? It's going to get lower and lower the more this front office fools themselves into believing in this fraud. Trade him NOW for whatever you can get! It's an addition by subtraction.

Bet you said that 2 years ago too.

I'd guess that Randle is some place in-between what he was this year and last.

17 and 9 with more efficiency? His shot diet was too bad for him to be consistent. Will he be content to be more of a finisher instead of an initiator? Does the team even have the pieces to make that happen?

BigDaddyG wrote:

martin wrote:

SergioNYK wrote:

wargames wrote:What if he returns and plays great?!?!

I don't see this happening at all. I think Randle will get worse and worse. You think he's value is low now? It's going to get lower and lower the more this front office fools themselves into believing in this fraud. Trade him NOW for whatever you can get! It's an addition by subtraction.

Bet you said that 2 years ago too.

I'd guess that Randle is some place in-between what he was this year and last.

17 and 9 with more efficiency? His shot diet was too bad for him to be consistent. Will he be content to be more of a finisher instead of an initiator? Does the team even have the pieces to make that happen?

This is all the crux of it. If Rose can play off the bench and IQ can step up as a starter - both big IF's - then you at least have a start of those pieces.

Randle has to adjust and didn't last year. He was in Bubble/Hero mode still and it won't work if that continues.

The team has work to do.

SergioNYK wrote:

wargames wrote:What if he returns and plays great?!?!

I don't see this happening at all. I think Randle will get worse and worse. You think he's value is low now? It's going to get lower and lower the more this front office fools themselves into believing in this fraud. Trade him NOW for whatever you can get! It's an addition by subtraction.

I don't know if he will play great, horrible or somewhere in between next season. Based on last year, I do suspect that things will snowball quickly if he does struggle early on. IMO he makes the game harder than it needs to be with his offensive moves (eg jabbing, spinning). He has to shoot exceptionally well to positively impact the team. His ball dominant style seems incongruent with the majority of the team (aside from Rose and Burks). When he was at his all-time high we were a mid-level playoff team. Yes we were PG deficient but he still acted as our PG early last season while we still were using Kemba. If Thibs were to talk to him off-season and tell him he has to slide to a more supportive spot and he agreed - I would be hopeful that it could possibly work. Any other scenario seems like a waste of 1/2 a season.

And what are we trying to do here anyway? Thibs wants to win now and our roster has some promising youths mixed with mid-level/sold veterans. Understand we are trying to win as much as possible and develop a winning attitude while concurrently developing our young players but are we really doing a good job at that? I'd say so so at best.

While we are still in need of more talent - I really think if we started the youths and used the vets as reserves we could really develop into a better team and roles would be more optimal. IQ, RJ, Grimes, Toppin, Mitch... Rose, Fournier, Burks, Randle, Noel/Sims backing them up. Sure we would take our lumps and Thibs may resign by December but if we hung in there - really think we could be a slightly better record by the end of the season. Developing that way would would be more likely to attract a star that wants a change of scenery as we would show a young core, supportive vets, etc..

When he was at his all-time high we were a mid-level playoff team.

What the hell does this even mean? Knicks were picked as one of the worst teams in the league that season and far far exceeded expectations. Sorry but the Knicks roster is still weak. Hell, even the Wizards have a better one. Knicks need to get Randle help. He's not the problem.

gradyandrew wrote:Randle isn't a 20-10 player, he's a 20-10-5. I don't see how the Knicks get better trading their best player.

With the worst efficiency of all 20 point a game scorers in the league. That tells me he should've been a 17 point a game scorer on a functional offense. What good is the 5 assist a game average when he turns it over 3x a game?