The Los Angeles Lakers have had initial talks with the Dallas Mavericks on a potential trade of Julius Randle for Nerlens Noel, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The discussions reportedly stopped however. Nerlens Noel elected to have thumb surgery earlier this month. He’s expected to miss four-to-six weeks to recover from a torn thumb ligament.
Noel would also need to agree to a trade, since he signed his qualifying offer last offseason, though he would presumably accept an opportunity to play more minutes after being benched for most of this season.
Randle is easily outperforming Noel this year. He is averaging 12.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting a career-best 55.2 percent from the field.
Noel is averaging just four points and four rebounds.
