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

Yeah I think it's hilarious the teams that passed on him. What were you thinking Orlando? What were you thinking Utah? Oh yeah Boston it's cool, you've got Kelly Olynyk no need for Julius Randle right? Why not draft ANOTHER guard on top of Bradley and (at the time) Rondo? Great move.

The only thing I can think of is that we played the league on that one. We brought in Gordon. Exum was rumored to want to be here and vice versa. The debate was Smart vs. Randle in terms of who would be the better player.

Looking back on all that now, Randle was obvious. A kid that size with that speed and it only takes one interview with him to know he's got the "it" factor.

 

^ I believe he will. The only thing that would keep him out is if he's not cleared physically which shouldn't be an issue.

We SHOULD have Clarkson, Brown, #2, Randle, and Black playing this summer. We might also have Kelly playing and any other rookie we draft.

 

If Draymond Green can opportunistically switch every screen, there's no reason Randle couldn't either if he put his mind to it.

I'd say Julius at the three could be really dangerous but only if his jumper is falling. Offensively we could just throw him the ball in the post and let him crush whichever three is guarding him. There's literally not a SF in the league that I think could guard him defensively on the block and that includes the studs like Leonard and Butler and Middleton. On the perimeter? Maybe, but not near the basket he's just too strong and has too good of footwork. Give him 2 years and he'd be unstoppable on the block at SF.

On the other end, smaller and quicker SFs would probably be able to blow past him if he's out there too long. Conditioning has been a problem for Julius and I think asking him to guard wings for 30+ minutes AND be one of our primary scorers is asking a lot.

Still I see no problem putting him at SF if we've got another option at PF.

 

Getting Aldridge+ Okafor, or Gasol+ Towns would be the only way I'd want to try that for extended minutes, and even then, I'd want a really good backup at the 3.

 

Well all accounts are he's been working on his shot nonstop since he wasn't able to do much else for a while. Reports are it looks good and considering we saw growth just in the pre-season alone, I'd say there's a good chance he'll be alright with the jumper next season. Not great, but passable.

 

Young is a good backup at the 3!

I'm with you on having those two as the only reason to push Randle to SF. And even then, I probably sit him for Young fairly quickly and then put Randle back in to run the bench unit.

 

I like Young's defense when he's dialed in.

I'm just not sure he will be dialed in, and with either of those lineups he would need to make defense his priority. It's not that I think he couldn't do it, it's just that Young's natural proclivity is scoring, so I'm not convinced he'd embrace that role, and as last season demonstrated, if Swaggy P isn't dialed in, he isn't very effective.

 

But the season before he was dialed in and looked great! I think if we're more competitive or if he feels more relied on and engaged, then he'll be fine. He'll never be even a B+ defender, but if he can give us B- or even C+ defense, I think that's enough to let his offense off-set the points he'd give up.

I'm a little higher on Young than most. I know last season was bad, but he got hurt and we tanked so he didn't have much to offer. The year before I think is more indicative of what he could bring us this year.

 

I think there was a really odd misconception about him though. Teams and fans, including US, had no idea how mobile this guy is. He's not just big and strong, but he's faster than most people his size too. He's a really, really athletic kid. I remember in Summer League thinking "holy crap this guy can really move!"

I think most teams thought they would be getting Zach Randolph with a little more speed and athleticism, and Randle is much more than that.

 

Young was dialed in that past season because he was able to play his type of ball IMO. He was the main scorer of the bench and had the green light to create and shoot. I think that's the stryle he's most comfortable with, so it's easier for him to give his all on defense. Under Scott.... not so much.

But, hey, I'm actually right with you about being a big Young supporter. I like his game and every team needs scoring punch off the bench. I just think he won't get enough of his shots when the offence is more focused on our bigs scoring, so I don't think it's a good enough fit for him to be a reliable backup to Randle at the 3 if we get those two bigs.

 

Yeah maybe. The bigs are still really young though so I'd actually be more comfortable with Nick on the squad as a safety valve in case the young cats aren't ready yet.

Either way I think Nick will do better this season as our 6th man than last, but probably not as good as his first season with us. I'd love to be able to go to him as our punch off the bench if he'd embrace that role. He's still a little too childish though and the culture we're building just doesn't seem to be in line with that.