Julius Randle Discussion: Beast, Ox, Monster, Lotus Flower

he's a little smaller/shorter wingspan than cwebb, I think. otherwise, they remind me a lot of each other. randle hasn't shown the shooting and passing acumen that webber did, but webber didn't have those (or at least the deadeye midrange shot) in his rookie year.

and no, webb never played 3. he was a 4/5 in college and a 4 in the nba. playing pfs at sf tends to get ugly. see the ryan Kelly experiment this year, or the ongoing derrick Williams experiment, or even the old Corliss Williamson/marcus fizer experiments for reasons never to do this.

 

It seems to me like it would be a disservice to Julius' growth as a potential star to not create match ups strategically with him at both the 4 and the 3. Definitely going to have enough quickness for many 3s and certainly the handles and skills to do that, and then he can just overpower them inside. Plus the obvious things he should be able to do as a 4 in many match ups that will be also mismatches.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kobe is in his ear to start young.....staying a bit lighter, but yet lean and strong. They have this summer together. We've heard JR speak and he's clearly a special kid. He's got that "IT".

 

I don't know how he will do at the 3. It won't hurt to try it out, though.

 

They just need to pick the right strategic match ups that Julius can exploit. No need to force anything. That's what a smart coach would do. So we'll see if Byron really can be smart.

 

I don't like utilizing Randle as a SF.
Here's a good article comparing him to Odom.

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nba/eye-o...ining-lamar-odom-as-a-model-for-julius-randle

He's going to have to start hitting 35+% of his threes if we want him to be effective as a SF.

 

Julius Randle leaned on Kobe Bryant, Paul George during injury rehab

Just 14 minutes into the Lakers' season opener against the Houston Rockets, the seventh pick in the 2014 NBA draft suffered a broken right leg -- and that knocked him out for the year.

On Tuesday, Randle held his exit interviews with Lakers Coach Byron Scott and General Manager Mitch Kupchak.


"Even though I didn't get to play, it was still a huge learning process," said Randle of his lost season. "I got a lot out of it. Obviously I wanted to play, but the valuable things I learned this year I wouldn't give away."

The former Kentucky forward said he learned "how to be a professional" and "how to carry myself on and off the court."

Randle underwent two surgeries, one to repair his leg, the other to replace a screw in his right foot that addressed an injury suffered in high school.

Throughout his rehabilitation, Randle was helped by teammate Kobe Bryant and fellow Creative Artists Agency client Paul George.

Bryant "texted me as soon as it happened," said Randle. "He said he's there for me. He also said this thing has happened before, not only to him and great players but rookies as well."

Randle said Bryant checked in with him regularly.

George, a guard-forward with the Indiana Pacers, suffered a similar injury with Team USA in August, recently returning to play with an Indiana team that has hopes of making a playoff run.

"That's a guy that I've talked to a lot. He's offered encouragement," said Randle.

The two compared recoveries, with Randle leaning on the veteran for peace of mind through the ups and downs of rehab.

Randle hopes to play with the Lakers' summer league squad in Las Vegas. He said he's in better shape than he was when he joined the Lakers, but is still waiting to be cleared by doctors for more activity.

"It's been great. No soreness, no nothing," he said. "The plan is to be ready for training camp. Short-term goal is summer league, but we've got to work to that."

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus

http://www.latimes.com/sports/laker...-bryant-paul-george-rehab-20150414-story.html

 

That's kinda my point though. Odom was a borderline tweener that found his niche with the Lakers. (And I think our best lineup was when Odom played PF with Gasol/Bynum at center. It made our team dynamic.)

Not the case with Randle. He is built like a prototypical PF and his strengths are best utilized at the 4. No real weaknesses at that position. If we ask him to play the 3, his weaknesses are exposed. Not a good idea.

 

Mind you, it doesn't mean Randle has to play the 3 full-time. He could play in stints or you could even run Randle at the 4 and Love at the 5 in certain situations. The ability to play to the two together, though, does work. Randle does have the ability to play point forward from either forward spot and create in halfcourt or in transition.

I think that's the plan, though. Draft a center, swing for the fences for Love (max guy) grab mid-tier FA (Green) and head into the season. At that point, we've built a team to contend for the PO'S...

 

I like your detective work but tying 1. and 2. together is a bit of a stretch

Getting a good SF (ie Middleton) and playing Randle in his natural position would be a better solution IMO. We have decent backup bigs in Black and Davis (and maybe Hill) already. What we really need is a SF. ....actually we need a couple of SF's

 

LOL!!! Have you been drinking, Trodgers? Mr. GIMMIE DAT!!

 

ugh, but...might be right. young boozer was quite useful, though!

 

If JC and Randle can have the chemistry and do as well as the Booz/D-Will duo, I'll be thrilled. Add in a top 4 pick and a max FA after Kobe hangs them up and we're set...except for a coach.

 

I'm not feeling the Booze comparison, unless I'm forgetting him grabbing rebounds and pushing the ball up the court and crossing fools over with "sick" handles for a buff power forward. Realizing he's cute with his skills in the half court. Again maybe I have forgotten?