Very strange. Again, I'm suspect of the way Luke has been treating Randle's minutes all year. I just don't get it. This kind of statement just makes me scratch my head more. Is he joking? I thought he put in Lopez to get a bigger body in there on Embiid. That would be the logical thing. Because last time he didn't and Randle got eaten up. The problem is Brick Slowpez was really sucking most of last night and the substitution almost cost us the game. Thankfully Lopez got that foul and got pulled otherwise that would have been a Loss. He needs to play Randle more. Kuz also seemed to hit a bit of a rookie wall last night and was pretty terrible. Is Luke playing too many mind games with these kids?
At this point , only Draymond can replicate (is better at it) what Julius is doing on the defensive end as a small ball C . The trade talks are stupid now .
That is extremely unfortunate; his defense 'alone' is incredibly valuable. I wanted to trade him as early as 2 days ago, but where do you find somebody with his skill set? I am an emotionally attached when got comes to the Lakers, and I admit to waffling on Julius, but truth is, there aren't many out out there that can guard multiple osition as effectively as he has done this year. Literally, he is guarding the likes of Curry to Embiid; and he's doing it extremely well. We better figure out a way to make these salaries work. Imo.
@tada Yeah really. Like @therealdeal said, what makes the Randle situation different from any of the youth on this team is that he's in a contract year. I'm a Nance guy too, like @abeer3, but if Nance was in a contract year like Randle, I'm not risking the #2018plan for him. I'm sure we can all agree, that ideally Randle embraces and keeps this current role and we can retain him for the forseeable future. He, not JC, would be our 6th man and be our primary emphasis of the 2nd unit. But more importantly, he can be our defensive frontline ace that "flies all over the court" and provides that spark defensively when we need it. The added bonus is that after we lock up our 2018plan, we can look to Randle to add even more longevity to LaBron's career here, but giving him extended minutes to minimize LaBron as the 1st guy that comes off the bench to sub for him at the 4 spot. Then at the end of games next season, we can turn to Randle as our small ball 5, joining LaBron and BI in the front court and PG and Zo in the backcourt. That defensively will look amazing cause all them dudes can switch and be effective in clutch moments of the game. Randle at $20M hurts us in the 2018plan. However he's definitely worth more than 12M (his current cap hold), so his RFA status actually creates some maneuverability for the 2018plan if he is okay in playing this current role. If he's not, then he's going to look for more money and more minutes elsewhere....and I can't blame him for that. However if he is going to walk away to pursue that, we need to explore all options by getting off of Deng's contract cause the worst case scenario is losing an asset like Jules for nothing. Look at what Jah just sold for and that is why the way we use Randle is so key (ie monitoring his minutes). Giving him 25-30 minutes a game is great in that all of his efficiency ratings are "star" level. He's in the convo with Boogie, LaBron and the Greek freak with the numbers he's putting up in limited minutes. What makes his +/- and PER so amazing is what he brings defensively and I honestly believe its cause he can play without any foul trouble concerns and since defense is all energy, he can go out on that end and play till E without worrying about gassing out. He's in great condition right now, but till the trade deadline passes and till we figure out if he's looking to play this role next season, you can't chance injury and you can't chance reducing his trade value. Last night, he grabbed 3 boards, he took more 3s and he didn't attack the paint till the 4th quarter (drawing only 3 charity stripe visits). He also unusually was a net negative last night while on the court. Of course Embiid attributed to that some, but its also cause he played extended minutes and had to utilize his energy accordingly all while making sure he didn't foul out. He brings too much on the defensive end and that is why you have to monitor his minutes cause we want him revved all the way up when we do call his number to get us some stops. Jules is putting up similar, if not more of an impact this year in limited minutes as compared to previous years where he was avg just under 29 minutes per game. We didn't lose 5-6 games this year cause we played Randle less minutes. We lost them at the free throw line...we lost them with unforced turnovers...we lost them cause we don't have a star/closer to count on offensively down the stretch of close games. If that makes me a Randle hater, then so be it...but I've said repeatedly that it could be BI, Nance and heck even Kuz and Zo....I'm all in on this #2018plan and if your contract is any sort of impediment towards that plan, you're on the bubble in terms of your future here, regardless if I like you as a player or not.
If Julius keeps playing this way, it's hard to argue that's for sure. I've always said Julius has one of those unique physical body types and so far Luke's minute manipulation has kept Julius's focus level high. I don't know that I've ever seen him so consistently making the right plays. I'd still argue he deserves more time (at the expense of Lopez right now), but it's also hard to argue that Luke is getting the best out of Julius right now in the minutes that Julius is playing. I remember most of us expecting little defensive development. This has been Julius's best season by far so while we're all hoping and wishing for more Julius, it's tough to deny it's working (for him personally).
I think there's a decent chance Randle sticks around. It all depends on who we get in free agency. We'd have to dump Clarkson and at the very least stretch Deng. Then it has to be PG13/Cousins package, not Lebron. But it's not impossible Randle is here next season, especially if we only are able to nab PG13 or (gulp) no one at all.
The unfortunate thing is Randle is not consistently motivated. He needs a challenge, he needs to dig deep and bring that beast inside we know he has when he's 100% focused. Luke is a product of Phil Jackson....remember that. We were always perplexed with what Phil did with rotations outside Kobe/Shaq/Pau. If he's trying to force Randle to react, it may be working. It's like the Hulk, sometimes you gotta poke the bear to get the real thing out. In order for Randle to really get to the next level, he needs to bring that beast mode all game without having someone to prod it out of him. I'm starting to see that Randle can play 5, but it's not because he can defend centers, but our team needs to work on doubling effectively, forcing the ball out of the players hands, and rotating effectively to cover the bases. On players Randle can matchup with, he's really good. Our team is a little too young to do that effectively, as we saw last night, but once we started throwing it at Embiid, he started making adjustments and was hesitating, which eventually caused him to miss the shot late in the game, imo.
@vasashi17 Hmm, you're argument is a bit flawed because neither Nance nor Jahlil is as valuable as Julius, who is a near-elite defender and an efficient scorer. I rather have Julius than Cousins if that's allowed in the 2018 plan.
That's not true. Julius is more energetic/motivated than 90% of our team on a regular basis. How is that not consistently motivated? It's just that he brings it to another level when the game is on the line. A level that no other player on our roster has yet to reach.
Yes, Randle brings a spark off the bench, but I want Randle to play at that other level throughout the game, not just when the game is on the line. Does that not mean "consistently motivated"? lol. When Randle can play at that high level all game, then he'll make the jump. Also, some players just don't show emotion as much as Randle does, he's an emotional being. See Ingram after that shot? That's a G right there.
What's flawed is this whole notion that its Nance vs Jules for minutes played in a game. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they both were on the floor last night at the same time to close out the game...and we won. Listen, I love Kuz, but till he proves he can body up with grown men, I'm okay with Nance closing games defensively. But for folks thinking Randle is getting hosed cause Nance is snaking his minutes...:Randallconfused: So how again did Jules become efficient and play with so much energy and reckless abandon on the defensive end? Could have something to do with the minutes he's playing, no? I rather have Boogie cause his +/- and PER is done in 36 minutes of play as opposed to 23 minutes of play for Jules. But I agree that Boogie cannot be the main guy we bring in this summer. He's gotta be the complimentary piece. Losing Jules for just Boogie would surely be a let down.
Cousins is a uniquely talented player and could be a tent-pole franchise type. He's putting up 26 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals. If he were to keep that up, only Kareem has had such a season in the Shot Clock Era. If he had his head screwed on straight, there'd be no question of his talent. As it is, I'd take DeMarcus in a heartbeat over a great many people in the league.
If he can bring it on the regular like the last 4 mins of the Sixers game, I'm ALL-IN to resign this JR!!
Here's the thing. First of all our log jam at 4 and 5 is a great problem to have because we've got a lot of talent there in those positions. We're going to be keeping some of these guys going forward, I just think we have to see how the summer plays out. I like Larry and I think he's useful for a bench 4 if it comes to that next year. I also love Kuzma and I think if we manage to get FA's depending on who we end up with he could also be a great bench 3/4. Kuzma's here next year no matter what unless we are trading to get PG which I think isn't going to possible. No way I trade Kuz just to get rid of Deng. I'd put Zu in there instead or even Larry before Kuz. He's too valuable as a position less big who can get his own points. Randle gives us some significant options if we can somehow keep him. Right now he's too valuable to trade away for nothing back and honestly I don't see anyone taking him in a Deng dump. He's tremendous in the small ball center role this year and if you pair him up with PG and Lebron, watch out! If you get PG and Cousins then I'm less inclined to keep him. If we can somehow wrangle PG, Lebron and Cousins then you get rid of everyone not named Ball, Ingram and Kuzma and make it work. So many things are up in the air right now, but Julius could certainly be a keeper moving forward if it's the right scenario. If you only get one FA then we need to keep him. If you get two you have to see if the salaries can work out and his acceptance of his role but it could be phenomenal if we land PG and Lebron. In the meantime, I think Lopez is probably gone. Just can't justify the contract he'll want given his very limited production thus far this season.
There were rumblings he may settle for the Room Exception this summer if he could team up with some stars. At this point he may settle for the minimum to team up with some stars.
LOL. Wonder how Julius would view having to play full time center against all the true big men in the game and no PF as opposed to some other team wanting him there. Maybe if that's what it took to remain a Laker he might. But then you better pay him big time to get beat up like that night in and night out. Look at the puss SFs who are tall enough and some pretty strong who don't want to play PF as a steady role. And the best big men are too big for him to handle when they're on their game.
