I'll add to this point. In the finals I couldn't help but smile when JVG or Mark would say that the Cavs big men are not running to the front of the paint more and sealing off their man to create additional mismatches. This includes on switches to when Tristan would have Curry or even Thompson on him in the post. Now, imagine Randle doing that which he already likes to do, be the bruiser who punishes his defender. We saw it in the youtube clip a few pages ago when Randle had his career high against the Cavs. Just this ability opens up another way for us to be successful on offense without having LBJ, PG or anyone else pound the ball or play pick and roll. We'll already be moving the ball around more that I'm hoping and this wrinkle adds another layer.
I'd say this would be a possibility IF Rob/Magic hadn't already had the opportunity to lock in Randle at the $12 million/year that Randle and Mintz were willing to take to start this year. Unfortunately, I can't see Randle & Mintz being so generous and patient a 2nd time when they were willing to do it at 12 and if what you say happens only changes to $15.5 after this next year. Randle has done absolutely everything Luke and the FO has asked of him and to only increase from $12 million to $15.5 million.... just doesn't seem right. Another year also means the possibility of injury at $5.5 million (QO) I'd love to be wrong on this, but I don't see it.
Sure - Lonzo/George/Ingram/Kuzma/LeBron looks cooler but LBJ at his age and mileage isn't going to want to play extended minutes at the 5 spot. No way. Sure you could play Kuz at the 5 but unless he's considerably bulking up this summer even that isn't enough IMO
Not extended minutes, that's just to match-up with Golden State's lineup. The Center spot would be manned (in my scenario) by DeAndre Jordan, remember?
Lonzo/George/Kuzma/LeBron(puke....)/Randle George and Ingram are the same player, I feel... while Kuzma gives us a different dimension offensively and will probably improve defensively enough to not be a liability (in fact, at 3 his effort and numbers, IIRC, where fine last season).
Also let's not forget Randle's ability to board and push up the court. No he doesn't have the handles of Odom, but he's still REALLY good at this aspect and with the small ball lineup, that will give us some insane uptempo offense on misses. There aren't many who are as adept at it as Randle and man, pushing it up the floor to Ball or PG or Ingram or Lebron or Kuz or Hart? Wowza. I think Randle's a darned good fit. Like therealdeal said, I just hope that PG and Lebron feel that way. I'm not sure what else you do in the case of Randle. I hate the idea of letting him go for nothing. I don't think you can S and T him for a third "star." I think he'll probably have great value and will bring so much hustle and muscle if we keep him here. I don't see how you realistically replace that.
The nice thing is with Randle, you've got that versatility. You don't have to choose now. You've got a lot of different combinations possible with the interchangeability of George, Ingram, Kuz and Lebron. Randle gives you more size and muscle, plus better D than Kuz. I'd probably go there. But who knows? Kuz gives you more range and instant offense, Ingram gives you that driving ability and drive and kick, plus length on D. Or maybe you go all big: Ingram at the one, PG at 2, Kuz at 3, Lebron at 4 and Randle at the 5? It's a win win win win.
Depends on the team make up and cost. If we've got Lonzo/George/Ingram/LeBron then a vertical threat or a floor spacing threat is important. Someone who will dive to the rim hard and open up passing lanes or someone who will be able to step out and hit threes (ideally both of course).
I’ll chip in. For the rest of their career, Randle easy. For the next two-three seasons DJ. He improves the team D tremendously. He gives Zo and LBJ an elite oop target. He cleans the glass at a higher level. And he doesn’t need any touches to be effective allowing PG, LBJ, and Ingram to dominate the ball.
Bring the big man and defense back.... I'd take DJ on a short term deal for sure. I'll take Randle on a team friendly deal for sure. Jules on a near max/max deal...I'll take too...and hopefully hand it to a team that takes him and hands us a disgruntled star. Either way you look at it...Jules a keeper....you can't let him walk off into free agency with nothing to show for it. Heck, max him out and trade him to Dallas for a TPE (20M+ and then have 1 calendar year to use that s***).
Can somebody answer this? Because i'm getting conflicting reports on this... If Lakers renounce everybody except Randle, and we stretch Deng over 5 years...does that open up enough room to sign both LeBron and PG13? If I'm doing the math correctly, we would have around $66M in cap space if we stretch Deng's contract (saving roughly $11M). That's just enough to slot in LeBron and PG13...and we would maintain Randle's bird rights...the only risk here is if Randle gets a max offer sheet on day 1 and he signs it and then we have to make a decision sooner right? And only way to avoid this nightmare situation is if we get rid of Deng's contract?
If we renounce our rights to all FAs (Randle, Ennis, Frye, Thomas, Pope, etc) and waive Deng, we'll have enough to add both George and LeBron.
How so? I'm loooking at the Lakers cap right now, and it shows the following (if we renounce everyone except Randle) : Deng 18.0 Randle 12.3 (cap hold) Ball 7.4 Ingram 5.7 Kuzma 1.6 Hart 1.6 Total: 46.3M , Projected Cap Space (assuming cap is at $101M): $54.7M If we stretch Deng over 5 years (36/5 = $7.2M), we would look like this: Randle 12.3 Ball 7.4 Deng 7.2 Ingram 5.7 Kuzma 1.6 Hart 1.6 Total: $35.8M, Project Space Space (assuming cap is at $101M): $65.2M So according to this, even WITH Randle's cap hold, we would have just enough room to sign both LeBron and PG13 to their respective maxes and not have to renounce Randle. Right?
Real pretty much answered this already, but here are the approx numbers: Bron (35.4) + PG (30.3) maxed out = about 66M With Deng and guaranteed contracts (meaning Ennis, Zu, TB's non-guaranteed contracts are off the books): about 35M in team salary = about 66M in cap space Guaranteed contracts with Jules caphold (12.5) = about 47M in team salary = about 54M in cap space Guaranteed contracts with Jules caphold & Deng stretched = about 36M in team salary = about 65M in cap space Guaranteed contracts with Deng stretched and all our free agents' (including Jules) rights renounced = about 28M in team salary = about 73M in cap space. Disclaimer: these rough estimates do not consider a trivial incomplete roster charge (about 825K per empty roster spot below 12). So for example, with a roster of just team salary including Zo, BI, Kuz, Hart and a stretched Deng, would have a incomplete roster charge of about 6.5M. So the Lakers would have 73M in practical cap space, but about 67M to use on one free agent before the incomplete roster charge gets recalculated to reflect the new incomplete roster charges.
This is so simple and obvious to Julius Randle fans. He's a freaking Beast. How many guys in the league have 1 ... that strength and explosiveness and 2 ... his increasing repertoire of skills to put with those physical abilities. He's 23. Don't f*** this up.
