i thought that for a second, too, but even young larry johnson was a better shooter and a much stronger finisher at the rim (iirc). corliss williamson + ballhandling?
you're too demanding. ok, strength of a bear. left hand of manu ginobili. right hand of a bear. shooting ability of pre-corrected udonis haslem. posterior of anthony mason. posture of a t-rex.
Williamson did not have the same mobility. Randle...speed and power...not afraid to mix it up...unrefined game. A.C. Green.
It's not perfect, but it's better than others I've heard. Grandmama wasn't a great shooter either iirc when he first got into the pros. He was better than Julius though. I just think they are similar sizes, both really strong for as big as they look, both like to bang, and both have an attack dog mentality. Before his back issues, LJ was an absolute beast.
Anthony Mason is a good comparison come to think of it. Larry Johnson was overall a much better player early on than Randle from what I can remember.
Rehabbed and missed his entire first year. just finished his "rookie"year .. Larry Johnson was 22 coming into the league as well. i wouldn't bet straight up against Julius averaging 20 PPG in his 3rd/4th year.
I do think Julius can be a 20 ppg scorer...but not an efficient 20 ppg scorer. He shot an abysmal 42% for a power forward who mostly takes his shots around the rim. Without an off-hand and reliable solid jumpshot he would require too many shots for my liking to score 20 ppg. He can score 20 here and there when he is "on" but too often he wasn't. We will see though, its very early still in his development cycle. He puts in the work...the question is whether there is enough talent.
Fairly Early Stat Projections Randle 68 games 30.7 MPG 12.2 PPG 2.0 APG 11.1 RPG Note that these don't include system-based bumps. We'll have to see what that looks like in preseason.
Close to All-Star candidate numbers... Not impossible but a tall order for a "technically" second year player. I see 18 and 11. Randle will get more opportunities this season that I am certain of.
From early comments by Walton, he is looking to establish Randle more as a bigger option with Russell directing the flow. He even wants him to push the ball more... The question amongst us how can Randle be more efficient with his touches. I just checked his stats from last season where he average a little over 10 shots per game. Randle could easily get five more attempts.
Julius shot the same shooting percentage as Porzingis. Obviously you'd like to see him be more efficient, but it puts into perspective that a lot of rookie bigs struggle with shooting efficiency. That should improve just by better shot selection, getting cleaner looks via the new system, and pushing the ball more and getting more transition opportunities. He's still very raw on the offensive end as well all know, but we also know what a tenacious worker Julius is. I fully expect his jump shot to improve this season which will open up his game as well as pick and roll opportunities with Clarkson and D'Lo.
Julius in the same system with the same coach as last year, but all the work he's putting in on his jumper this summer, I think would jump to something like 14/12 or so. With a new uptempo system, I could see him stretching that to 16/12 which would be just amazing numbers for what is essentially a sophomore. The key though is not his overall stats, but his efficiency. If he could bump himself up to something like 48%/34%/77% I would ecstatic.
Certainly it should improve with more experience and better created shots. But comparing him to Porzingis is strange. Porzingis is extremely weak from a body perspective. Randle is a bull. Also Randle takes most shots in the paint, Porzingis takes most of his shots on distance shots. If a jumpshooter shoots 42%, thats slighly below average. When a paint player shoots 42%, thats absolutely terrible. Randle should be closer to 48-50% to even be considered average.
