Mavs Had Initial Trade Talks With Lakers on Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle

The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers reportedly had conversations on a trade centered on Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel.

A couple of days before Christmas, when the Lakers visited the Warriors, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski talked about a potential deal between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers that had initial talks.

The deal was centered around Nerlens Noel and Julius Randle. The following video in the tweet has the in-game audio of Wojnarowski’s report.

Fans of both teams have tried to connect these dots before, but now there is an official report to play with.

Since Nerlens Noel signed a one-year qualifying offer this past summer for around $4.1 million, he will be hitting unrestricted free agency next summer. Also, because he signed that one-year deal, Noel can veto any trade this season.

Noel is out of the rotation and has been for quite some time.

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On the other side, Julius Randle is in a completely different situation.

Randle has appeared in all 32 games where he logs over 22 minutes a night. He is averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds a game this season.

Randle will hit restricted free agency this summer where the Lakers will be in a tough spot in bringing him back.

Normally, a rebuilding team like the Lakers wouldn’t be interested in trading away a 23-year-old that has yet to hit their prime. But with their sights set on bigger fish like a potential LeBron James and Paul George pairing, paying Randle this summer might not be in the future.

Dallas could entertain the restricted market with Randle as they are in a rebuild themselves.

Noel would get a fresh start in Los Angeles for the second half of the season where he could set the groundwork for a potential long-term fit.

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If a deal was to ever get close to happening, I would assume other pieces would have to be in the deal or Dallas would have to take back more money in the deal to entice Los Angeles.