Yeah without Julius we'd be top 5 lottery team. Imagine if Luke started him with Brook in the beginning of the year.... Damn. Oh well
That was Luke's experimental Byron phase... of course his favoritism towards Nance caused the latter to be traded.
Maybe Luke knew Julius had more potential, but he wanted to play Nance more to see what he had. Surely that made it easier to package him in a trade. Nance had less upside though he can be a good player. Julius has more.
Or maybe if he starts at the beginning of the year he doesn't make the necessary steps in development to get to this point. It's not this black and white. Anyway, he's playing very consistently right now and I remember the times when that wasn't the case. He's not playing as well defensively as he was in the past, might be running out of steam as our season looks more and more like a lame duck, but I'm extremely proud of how he's carried himself this season. It's been a test for him and he's passed with flying colors. I truly hope he plays ball with us and lets us make our moves this summer. One of the "shady" things we could do with Mintz is tell him "if you get George here through trade, we'll give Julius more than his market value". Say there's a team willing to pay Julius the max, we'll give him our max which has a higher annual increase in salary. Say a team is only willing to go up to 18 million, we'll give him 20 million. Completely illegal, but something everyone in the league plays with.
Is he stronger or more physical finally than Biff? Can't recall a game where it ever looked that way. Biff's hops probably have something to do with that as well. But yeah you'd think from watching him now he should be there.
Good read in today's LA Times Julius Randle: From bully on the court to gentle giant at home http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-julius-randle-20180324-story.html?outputType=amp
Damn Kuzmo .... you beat me to it. In my best imitation of sirron's depravity my headline was going to be, "Randle has a fractured finger" It's true! Got to read the article but it's a great read indeed. :Headbang:
He was the only Laker to be a net negative last night. Led the team in turnovers last night. When we're down players, you can't let foul trouble limit your minutes. I mean we almost lost to the lowly Griz, so we needed dude for 40+ mins last night. We were without BI, but they're without Conley. It's just a built in excuse. If Jules was that guy, he woulda taken over last night. You want to take care of your own, but he isn't a max player. This #PayJulius s*** really baffles my mind, cause he hasn't really proven he's that type of player yet and I'm not sure he ever will. Moving the needle should be the measure in becoming a max guy. LO was great and I'm one of his biggest fans, but he wasn't anywhere close to a max guy cause by himself he couldn't win games. He was that extra piece a title team needed, but not "the" man to get us there. Jules is "that" guy for max guys to play with. Bringing him back at 12-15M is good for the Lakers.... And that's all that should matter. I love the recent Jules article and I really hope him and his family well, but 12-15M isn't something that his family will struggle to overcome from. If he wants more than that then he could find it elsewhere. But that number while helping LA get to #17 and beyond should be the motive. Throwing max money to Jules doesn't help LA at all, cause the team as is is still several years out from becoming a true title contender. You need veteran max guys here to show our young guns the way and to finally guide them into the playoffs where they can fast-forward their development. Love Jules's personality and his game, but it ain't worth anything close to the max (ie 25M) imho. And for the last time, no we're not a playoff team if Jules got more minutes to start the year. That narrative needed to die yesterday. Bring in max guys to pair with Jules. That should be the gold standard. Anything else is fool's gold.
I guess since he's 23 he won't improve any more either I'm not sure too many people actually want to pay him the max, but we certainly don't want to lose him and watch him blow up and reach his potential elsewhere. He's going to get better as he continues to grow in confidence and strength. When the game finishes slowing down for him? Hulk mode. Every game.
12-15M is not realistic. He's not Jordan Clarkson and that's no knock on JC. 16-18M fair compromise for both sides with probably the high end.
He’s young. He’ll go to the highest bidder. (Randle carrying virtual money bags from this Summer Free Agency)
I think he's indicated with comments he loves playing here .... and would possibly be open to a not "insulting" home town discount. And play on the exciting roster that would allow.
agreed. I don't think he takes any discount "just because." If it helps open the door for PG + Lebron (or other pieces), then he may take slight discount for basketball reasons.
To be fair to vash that's the number the guy from ESPN threw out. Personally, I think that number is a little on the low side too. I think Julius is worth starter money which should be probably more in the 17 million range like you said. I certainly don't think he's worth max money and I'm not sure anyone will give him that although there might be a team desperate enough to try. If an RFA like Otto Porter can get a max offer, I'm not sure we can say Julius definitely won't. Hopefully he won't. Hopefully he gives us a shot to do what's necessary, but he'll do whatever is best for his family.
