Would Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel benefit from initial December trade talks?

With trade rumors swirling and the deadline pushed up to Feb. 8, I revisit a recent trade proposal between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, who discussed swapping their University of Kentucky big men.

The NBA moved up its trade deadline before the All Star break to Feb. 8, and plenty of teams are expected to be active to improve their postseason push or offload players to play youth and prepare for the future.

Seeking multiple expiring contracts in return for some intriguing pieces that could use some new scenery, while keeping an eye on the 2018 summer, the Los Angeles Lakers should be one of the busiest teams this season.

I usually stay away from discussing what-if trade scenarios, but it’s tough to ignore the noise around this Lakers team, A name that’s been mentioned in trade talks since the offseason is fourth-year forward Julius Randle.

He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension. Since then, the rumors haven’t stopped.

The trade proposal I am going to talk about has no rumblings outside of initial talks in mid-December before breaking down, but is the one that would actually work out for both sides.

The proposed deal was reported by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, saying that the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks held initial talks on a swap involving Randle and Mavs center Nerlens Noel.

Talks eventually broke down, but they could pick back up if the Lakers can’t find a suitable partner to attach Luol Deng‘s bad contract or another player to offload.

I’m going to discuss how Randle and Noel would fit and benefit from this simple swap, beginning with a hometown return for Julius Randle.