[Stein] "The Knicks will have to look to get off salary, realistically. They're taking on Mitchell's contract, they just made Brunson $100m, they're going to extend RJ. They can't have 4 guys making $100m if you want flexibility to improve the team... other teams believe they're trading Randle."

Marc Stein elaborated on his newsletter about the Knicks potentially looking at a Westbrook trade deal about why teams around the league believe they're looking to move Randle.

"The Knicks will have to look to get off salary, realistically. They're taking on Mitchell's contract, they just made Brunson $100m, they're going to extend RJ. They can't have 4 guys making $100m if you want flexibility to improve the team... other teams believe they're trading Randle."

He points out that it's still simply theoretical, but that the Lakers are hoping to not have to trade multiple picks and to try to get solid players if they're taking back a long term deal.