The Julius Randle Thread

[KGdaBom]

Did you eat at those places with Sid Hartman in the 1950s?

Yes I did. 1950 as a matter of fact for my 21st birthday. My first adult beverage was a very dry martini. Sid paid for everything, but I found out he put it on the star tribune tab. I love the old school places.

You're quite spunky for a 95-year old.

Sent from my N152DL using RealGM mobile app

I AM!!

[Colbinii]

Julius Randle is going to have a massive season. The reality is, this Minnesota is going to be dynamite offensively, something we have never seen since the KG Era in terms of "Top 5 offense potential". B-B-b-but we lost the greatest Big-Man shooter ever in Karl-Anthony Towns, how can you say we will be better, Colbinii?

Well, one of the gripes about Towns was his lack of 3P volume. He simply didn't shoot it enough. Towns averaged 7.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons [we have seen a downtick in his volume after spiking in 2020 and 2021]. Donte Divincenzo averaged 11.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons, with a career high of 15.1 last year

Jaden is the next guy to address. His 3Par has hovered around 40% the past 3 seasons, and while that number may not increase drastically, his offensive shot volume should increase as he enters his Age 24 season.

Here is a list of players who filled similar roles as McDaniels in their Age 23/Age 24 seasons and their jumps in 3P Volume.

Donte Divincenzo: 3.7 3PA/G > 5.3 3PA/G
Mikal Bridges: 2.7 3PA/G > 4.4 3PA/G
OG Anunoby [Age 22 to Age 23]: 3.3 3PA/G > 6.1 3PA/G

McDaniels is coming off a season with 3.5 3PA/G. This number could realistically jump to 5-6 3PA/G and not be an unrealistic volume.

To add to these two two-way monsters on the perimeter, we also have the following shooters [last year stats].

Mike Conley 5.3 3PA/G @ 44%
Anthony Edwards 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Naz Reid 5.0 3PA/G @ 41%
Nickeil Alexander-Walker 4.1 3PA/G @ 39%
Joe Ingles 2.4 3PA/G @ 44%

Donte Divincenzo 8.7 3PA/G @ 40%
Jaden McDaniels 3.7 3PA/G @ 34%

Terrence Shannon Jr 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Rob Dillingham 4.5 3PA/G @ 44%

Luka Garza ??? @ ???
Josh Minott ??? @ ???

We could literally have a 12-man rotation with Rudy Gobert being the only Non-3P shooter. No more Kyle Anderson killing the offense.

But what about Randle's shooting?

Here me out. LET ME COOK!

Randle didn't shoot the 3 ball in ANY CAPACITY before arriving in New Orleans. His first [and only] season in New Orleans he goes from "Never shoot 3's" to being a 34% 3P Shooter on 2.7 3PA/G. Randle has since became a mid-to-high 70% FT Shooter over this time as well. The confidence interval for his 3P shooting is somewhere between 32-38%, which gives me incredible hope.

Now, why would our 3P Volume increase by loosing Towns? Aside from simply having higher 3P volume players, think about the play style of Randle vs Towns. KAT was a bit more methodical in his attack which was typically Outside > In. We utilized his incredible shooting to attack larger guys off the close-out. With Randle, he attacks from Inside > Out. He is a massive, walking bowling ball who get's interior position and then utilizes his position to draw defensive attention [Gravity] and then is a better and more willing passer than Towns, which allows Randle to find the open shooter after he generates rim pressure by getting into the paint. We have surrounded Randle with 4 shooters--one of them is going to be open.

I think this is all easy to digest, but the elephant in the room is the Frenchman. How does Rudy fit into all of this offensively? Well, look at Denver. No, Randle isn't a better passer or equivalent as The Big Honey. But, they utilize Aaron Gordon in the Dunker's spot. Jokic bullies whoever is on him, works his way into the paint, the help defender comes from the weakside and boom--alley oop to Aaron Gordon. This is a concept Minnesota will use, I guarantee it. Randle versus a team's 4, oh, and did I mention teams are going smaller to get more spacing at the 4? Randle can bully his guy and get position at the top of the key or the paint. Help needs to come, and you can't help off of one of the 40% 3P shooters, so you help off Gobert. Randle can deliver alley-oop to alley-oop to Gobert. If the opposing team rotates to Gobert from the Corner, then Gobert is capable of making the extra pass to the corner 3. Defense is in scramble/rotate mode, the ball finds ANT at the top of the key and he can simply attack a rotating defense.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I can envision this team clicking on all cylinders. We have one of the best coaches in the NBA, we have three stars in ANT/Rudy/Randle and we have high-end, connecting pieces [I love that term over "role player"] in Jaden, DDV, Naz, Conley and NAW.

[Calinks]

Julius Randle is going to have a massive season. The reality is, this Minnesota is going to be dynamite offensively, something we have never seen since the KG Era in terms of "Top 5 offense potential". B-B-b-but we lost the greatest Big-Man shooter ever in Karl-Anthony Towns, how can you say we will be better, Colbinii?

Well, one of the gripes about Towns was his lack of 3P volume. He simply didn't shoot it enough. Towns averaged 7.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons [we have seen a downtick in his volume after spiking in 2020 and 2021]. Donte Divincenzo averaged 11.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons, with a career high of 15.1 last year

Jaden is the next guy to address. His 3Par has hovered around 40% the past 3 seasons, and while that number may not increase drastically, his offensive shot volume should increase as he enters his Age 24 season.

Here is a list of players who filled similar roles as McDaniels in their Age 23/Age 24 seasons and their jumps in 3P Volume.

Donte Divincenzo: 3.7 3PA/G > 5.3 3PA/G
Mikal Bridges: 2.7 3PA/G > 4.4 3PA/G
OG Anunoby [Age 22 to Age 23]: 3.3 3PA/G > 6.1 3PA/G

McDaniels is coming off a season with 3.5 3PA/G. This number could realistically jump to 5-6 3PA/G and not be an unrealistic volume.

To add to these two two-way monsters on the perimeter, we also have the following shooters [last year stats].

Mike Conley 5.3 3PA/G @ 44%
Anthony Edwards 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Naz Reid 5.0 3PA/G @ 41%
Nickeil Alexander-Walker 4.1 3PA/G @ 39%
Joe Ingles 2.4 3PA/G @ 44%

Donte Divincenzo 8.7 3PA/G @ 40%
Jaden McDaniels 3.7 3PA/G @ 34%

Terrence Shannon Jr 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Rob Dillingham 4.5 3PA/G @ 44%

Luka Garza ??? @ ???
Josh Minott ??? @ ???

We could literally have a 12-man rotation with Rudy Gobert being the only Non-3P shooter. No more Kyle Anderson killing the offense.

But what about Randle's shooting?

Here me out. LET ME COOK!

Randle didn't shoot the 3 ball in ANY CAPACITY before arriving in New Orleans. His first [and only] season in New Orleans he goes from "Never shoot 3's" to being a 34% 3P Shooter on 2.7 3PA/G. Randle has since became a mid-to-high 70% FT Shooter over this time as well. The confidence interval for his 3P shooting is somewhere between 32-38%, which gives me incredible hope.

Now, why would our 3P Volume increase by loosing Towns? Aside from simply having higher 3P volume players, think about the play style of Randle vs Towns. KAT was a bit more methodical in his attack which was typically Outside > In. We utilized his incredible shooting to attack larger guys off the close-out. With Randle, he attacks from Inside > Out. He is a massive, walking bowling ball who get's interior position and then utilizes his position to draw defensive attention [Gravity] and then is a better and more willing passer than Towns, which allows Randle to find the open shooter after he generates rim pressure by getting into the paint. We have surrounded Randle with 4 shooters--one of them is going to be open.

I think this is all easy to digest, but the elephant in the room is the Frenchman. How does Rudy fit into all of this offensively? Well, look at Denver. No, Randle isn't a better passer or equivalent as The Big Honey. But, they utilize Aaron Gordon in the Dunker's spot. Jokic bullies whoever is on him, works his way into the paint, the help defender comes from the weakside and boom--alley oop to Aaron Gordon. This is a concept Minnesota will use, I guarantee it. Randle versus a team's 4, oh, and did I mention teams are going smaller to get more spacing at the 4? Randle can bully his guy and get position at the top of the key or the paint. Help needs to come, and you can't help off of one of the 40% 3P shooters, so you help off Gobert. Randle can deliver alley-oop to alley-oop to Gobert. If the opposing team rotates to Gobert from the Corner, then Gobert is capable of making the extra pass to the corner 3. Defense is in scramble/rotate mode, the ball finds ANT at the top of the key and he can simply attack a rotating defense.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I can envision this team clicking on all cylinders. We have one of the best coaches in the NBA, we have three stars in ANT/Rudy/Randle and we have high-end, connecting pieces [I love that term over "role player"] in Jaden, DDV, Naz, Conley and NAW.

Yep, I cant help but think we will be more potent on offense. Again, I always felt like we were criminally under powered with Towns. Not really his fault we just hadn't been able to find a formula. I think this trade unlocks our offense.

[KGdaBom]

Julius Randle is going to have a massive season. The reality is, this Minnesota is going to be dynamite offensively, something we have never seen since the KG Era in terms of "Top 5 offense potential". B-B-b-but we lost the greatest Big-Man shooter ever in Karl-Anthony Towns, how can you say we will be better, Colbinii?

Well, one of the gripes about Towns was his lack of 3P volume. He simply didn't shoot it enough. Towns averaged 7.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons [we have seen a downtick in his volume after spiking in 2020 and 2021]. Donte Divincenzo averaged 11.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons, with a career high of 15.1 last year

Jaden is the next guy to address. His 3Par has hovered around 40% the past 3 seasons, and while that number may not increase drastically, his offensive shot volume should increase as he enters his Age 24 season.

Here is a list of players who filled similar roles as McDaniels in their Age 23/Age 24 seasons and their jumps in 3P Volume.

Donte Divincenzo: 3.7 3PA/G > 5.3 3PA/G
Mikal Bridges: 2.7 3PA/G > 4.4 3PA/G
OG Anunoby [Age 22 to Age 23]: 3.3 3PA/G > 6.1 3PA/G

McDaniels is coming off a season with 3.5 3PA/G. This number could realistically jump to 5-6 3PA/G and not be an unrealistic volume.

To add to these two two-way monsters on the perimeter, we also have the following shooters [last year stats].

Mike Conley 5.3 3PA/G @ 44%
Anthony Edwards 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Naz Reid 5.0 3PA/G @ 41%
Nickeil Alexander-Walker 4.1 3PA/G @ 39%
Joe Ingles 2.4 3PA/G @ 44%

Donte Divincenzo 8.7 3PA/G @ 40%
Jaden McDaniels 3.7 3PA/G @ 34%

Terrence Shannon Jr 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Rob Dillingham 4.5 3PA/G @ 44%

Luka Garza ??? @ ???
Josh Minott ??? @ ???

We could literally have a 12-man rotation with Rudy Gobert being the only Non-3P shooter. No more Kyle Anderson killing the offense.

But what about Randle's shooting?

Here me out. LET ME COOK!

Randle didn't shoot the 3 ball in ANY CAPACITY before arriving in New Orleans. His first [and only] season in New Orleans he goes from "Never shoot 3's" to being a 34% 3P Shooter on 2.7 3PA/G. Randle has since became a mid-to-high 70% FT Shooter over this time as well. The confidence interval for his 3P shooting is somewhere between 32-38%, which gives me incredible hope.

Now, why would our 3P Volume increase by loosing Towns? Aside from simply having higher 3P volume players, think about the play style of Randle vs Towns. KAT was a bit more methodical in his attack which was typically Outside > In. We utilized his incredible shooting to attack larger guys off the close-out. With Randle, he attacks from Inside > Out. He is a massive, walking bowling ball who get's interior position and then utilizes his position to draw defensive attention [Gravity] and then is a better and more willing passer than Towns, which allows Randle to find the open shooter after he generates rim pressure by getting into the paint. We have surrounded Randle with 4 shooters--one of them is going to be open.

I think this is all easy to digest, but the elephant in the room is the Frenchman. How does Rudy fit into all of this offensively? Well, look at Denver. No, Randle isn't a better passer or equivalent as The Big Honey. But, they utilize Aaron Gordon in the Dunker's spot. Jokic bullies whoever is on him, works his way into the paint, the help defender comes from the weakside and boom--alley oop to Aaron Gordon. This is a concept Minnesota will use, I guarantee it. Randle versus a team's 4, oh, and did I mention teams are going smaller to get more spacing at the 4? Randle can bully his guy and get position at the top of the key or the paint. Help needs to come, and you can't help off of one of the 40% 3P shooters, so you help off Gobert. Randle can deliver alley-oop to alley-oop to Gobert. If the opposing team rotates to Gobert from the Corner, then Gobert is capable of making the extra pass to the corner 3. Defense is in scramble/rotate mode, the ball finds ANT at the top of the key and he can simply attack a rotating defense.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I can envision this team clicking on all cylinders. We have one of the best coaches in the NBA, we have three stars in ANT/Rudy/Randle and we have high-end, connecting pieces [I love that term over "role player"] in Jaden, DDV, Naz, Conley and NAW.

Yep, I cant help but think we will be more potent on offense. Again, I always felt like we were criminally under powered with Towns. Not really his fault we just hadn't been able to find a formula. I think this trade unlocks our offense.

'
I hope you guys are right and we win it all this season. As I mentioned before I will greatly rejoice when this happens, but I will still have just a little sadness that KAT wasn't part of it. Or I could look at KAT bringing us Randle and DDV and feel like he had a huge part of it.

[DaMplsKid]

Julius Randle is going to have a massive season. The reality is, this Minnesota is going to be dynamite offensively, something we have never seen since the KG Era in terms of "Top 5 offense potential". B-B-b-but we lost the greatest Big-Man shooter ever in Karl-Anthony Towns, how can you say we will be better, Colbinii?

Well, one of the gripes about Towns was his lack of 3P volume. He simply didn't shoot it enough. Towns averaged 7.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons [we have seen a downtick in his volume after spiking in 2020 and 2021]. Donte Divincenzo averaged 11.6 3PA/100 Possessions over the past 3 seasons, with a career high of 15.1 last year

Jaden is the next guy to address. His 3Par has hovered around 40% the past 3 seasons, and while that number may not increase drastically, his offensive shot volume should increase as he enters his Age 24 season.

Here is a list of players who filled similar roles as McDaniels in their Age 23/Age 24 seasons and their jumps in 3P Volume.

Donte Divincenzo: 3.7 3PA/G > 5.3 3PA/G
Mikal Bridges: 2.7 3PA/G > 4.4 3PA/G
OG Anunoby [Age 22 to Age 23]: 3.3 3PA/G > 6.1 3PA/G

McDaniels is coming off a season with 3.5 3PA/G. This number could realistically jump to 5-6 3PA/G and not be an unrealistic volume.

To add to these two two-way monsters on the perimeter, we also have the following shooters [last year stats].

Mike Conley 5.3 3PA/G @ 44%
Anthony Edwards 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Naz Reid 5.0 3PA/G @ 41%
Nickeil Alexander-Walker 4.1 3PA/G @ 39%
Joe Ingles 2.4 3PA/G @ 44%

Donte Divincenzo 8.7 3PA/G @ 40%
Jaden McDaniels 3.7 3PA/G @ 34%

Terrence Shannon Jr 6.7 3PA/G @ 36%
Rob Dillingham 4.5 3PA/G @ 44%

Luka Garza ??? @ ???
Josh Minott ??? @ ???

We could literally have a 12-man rotation with Rudy Gobert being the only Non-3P shooter. No more Kyle Anderson killing the offense.

But what about Randle's shooting?

Here me out. LET ME COOK!

Randle didn't shoot the 3 ball in ANY CAPACITY before arriving in New Orleans. His first [and only] season in New Orleans he goes from "Never shoot 3's" to being a 34% 3P Shooter on 2.7 3PA/G. Randle has since became a mid-to-high 70% FT Shooter over this time as well. The confidence interval for his 3P shooting is somewhere between 32-38%, which gives me incredible hope.

Now, why would our 3P Volume increase by loosing Towns? Aside from simply having higher 3P volume players, think about the play style of Randle vs Towns. KAT was a bit more methodical in his attack which was typically Outside > In. We utilized his incredible shooting to attack larger guys off the close-out. With Randle, he attacks from Inside > Out. He is a massive, walking bowling ball who get's interior position and then utilizes his position to draw defensive attention [Gravity] and then is a better and more willing passer than Towns, which allows Randle to find the open shooter after he generates rim pressure by getting into the paint. We have surrounded Randle with 4 shooters--one of them is going to be open.

I think this is all easy to digest, but the elephant in the room is the Frenchman. How does Rudy fit into all of this offensively? Well, look at Denver. No, Randle isn't a better passer or equivalent as The Big Honey. But, they utilize Aaron Gordon in the Dunker's spot. Jokic bullies whoever is on him, works his way into the paint, the help defender comes from the weakside and boom--alley oop to Aaron Gordon. This is a concept Minnesota will use, I guarantee it. Randle versus a team's 4, oh, and did I mention teams are going smaller to get more spacing at the 4? Randle can bully his guy and get position at the top of the key or the paint. Help needs to come, and you can't help off of one of the 40% 3P shooters, so you help off Gobert. Randle can deliver alley-oop to alley-oop to Gobert. If the opposing team rotates to Gobert from the Corner, then Gobert is capable of making the extra pass to the corner 3. Defense is in scramble/rotate mode, the ball finds ANT at the top of the key and he can simply attack a rotating defense.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I can envision this team clicking on all cylinders. We have one of the best coaches in the NBA, we have three stars in ANT/Rudy/Randle and we have high-end, connecting pieces [I love that term over "role player"] in Jaden, DDV, Naz, Conley and NAW.

Nice read and thanks for your take. I agree that the offense will be better. I think a lot of that will hinge on Jaden as everyone else has proven to be who they are and I think teams will still force Jaden to beat them.

As for Randle I just like going to him more then Town when a team NEEDS a bucket. I think Towns was good at playing off other and stretching the floor however really struggled when we asked him to get a bucket as he forced soooo many things and wasn't great at passing out of double teams in the post.

I love Randle's physical play and think it will fit in better with a team chemistry we displayed last year. His shooting doesn't worry me much as Anderson played last year in big minutes and we still managed. Randle is 1000 times better scorer then Anderson was. If team decide to play off Randle and his jumper isn't falling he has no issues finding other way to get it done. He is a very capable driving on a lazy closeout or running his own sideline pick and roll game to create. If his jumper is falling (over 50% from the corners last year) then teams will really be screwed.

[Klomp]

Ingles is a career 46% shooter on corner 3s, and Randle beat him in a drill. Yes it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I think people need to realign some of their beliefs because they talk about spacing issues as if we traded for Kyle Anderson or something....

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[winforlose]

Ingles is a career 46% shooter on corner 3s, and Randle beat him in a drill. Yes it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I think people need to realign some of their beliefs because they talk about spacing issues as if we traded for Kyle Anderson or something....

Read on Twitter

How many minutes do you expect Jingles to play per game? The spacing is about having MCD, Rudy, and Randle together when MCD is struggling with his deep ball. Randle will need to shoot them to keep defenses honest and his inconsistent shooting might force Naz in for him or MCD. Our bench has added a lot of shooting in RD, DDV, Jingles, and hopefully TSJ or Minott (assuming either can keep it around league average.) The issue there is defense. DDV, TSJ, and hopefully Minott will be fine on D, but RD and Jingles will not. This is where things get spicy as Finch figures out who pairs well with who as he crafts the rotation.

[Klomp]

Since 2015-16 (Towns' rookie year)
Towns: 48 games of 7+ assists
Randle: 89 games of 7+ assists

Towns: 21 games of 5+ 3-pointers made
Randle: 30 games of 5+ 3-pointers made

[Klomp]

How many minutes do you expect Jingles to play per game? The spacing is about having MCD, Rudy, and Randle together when MCD is struggling with his deep ball. Randle will need to shoot them to keep defenses honest and his inconsistent shooting might force Naz in for him or MCD. Our bench has added a lot of shooting in RD, DDV, Jingles, and hopefully TSJ or Minott (assuming either can keep it around league average.) The issue there is defense. DDV, TSJ, and hopefully Minott will be fine on D, but RD and Jingles will not. This is where things get spicy as Finch figures out who pairs well with who as he crafts the rotation.

I don't think it's as dire as you think because I don't know that they'll all be on the court together as much as you think. I'd guess it will be less than half of the time over the course of a game that all three of them will be on the court together. Even so, who will be around them? Conley is a 44% 3-point shooter. Edwards is a solid 36% shooter (and likely improving). DiVincenzo is a 40% 3-point shooter. Reid is a 42% 3-point shooter. Nickeil is a 39% 3-point shooter. That's your 8-man rotation right there, with five knockdown shooters.

[winforlose]

How many minutes do you expect Jingles to play per game? The spacing is about having MCD, Rudy, and Randle together when MCD is struggling with his deep ball. Randle will need to shoot them to keep defenses honest and his inconsistent shooting might force Naz in for him or MCD. Our bench has added a lot of shooting in RD, DDV, Jingles, and hopefully TSJ or Minott (assuming either can keep it around league average.) The issue there is defense. DDV, TSJ, and hopefully Minott will be fine on D, but RD and Jingles will not. This is where things get spicy as Finch figures out who pairs well with who as he crafts the rotation.

I don't think it's as dire as you think because I don't know that they'll all be on the court together as much as you think. I'd guess it will be less than half of the time over the course of a game that all three of them will be on the court together. Even so, who will be around them? Conley is a 44% 3-point shooter. Edwards is a solid 36% shooter (and likely improving). DiVincenzo is a 40% 3-point shooter. Reid is a 42% 3-point shooter. Nickeil is a 39% 3-point shooter. That's your 8-man rotation right there, with five knockdown shooters.

I think you have the right idea. The conversation about starters is the wrong conversation. Randle can start all he likes, but don’t be surprised if Naz finishes. Also don’t be surprised if Rudy is sat, we go small, 5 out with Conley, DDV, Ant, Jaden, Naz. That could be a scary closing unit.

[minimus]

Call me crazy, but I think Randle can be our less talented version of PF LeBron James. Or better version of Kyle Anderson (in offense).

[DaMplsKid]

How many minutes do you expect Jingles to play per game? The spacing is about having MCD, Rudy, and Randle together when MCD is struggling with his deep ball. Randle will need to shoot them to keep defenses honest and his inconsistent shooting might force Naz in for him or MCD. Our bench has added a lot of shooting in RD, DDV, Jingles, and hopefully TSJ or Minott (assuming either can keep it around league average.) The issue there is defense. DDV, TSJ, and hopefully Minott will be fine on D, but RD and Jingles will not. This is where things get spicy as Finch figures out who pairs well with who as he crafts the rotation.

I don't think it's as dire as you think because I don't know that they'll all be on the court together as much as you think. I'd guess it will be less than half of the time over the course of a game that all three of them will be on the court together. Even so, who will be around them? Conley is a 44% 3-point shooter. Edwards is a solid 36% shooter (and likely improving). DiVincenzo is a 40% 3-point shooter. Reid is a 42% 3-point shooter. Nickeil is a 39% 3-point shooter. That's your 8-man rotation right there, with five knockdown shooters.

I think you have the right idea. The conversation about starters is the wrong conversation. Randle can start all he likes, but don’t be surprised if Naz finishes. Also don’t be surprised if Rudy is sat, we go small, 5 out with Conley, DDV, Ant, Jaden, Naz. That could be a scary closing unit.

I keep hearing this about Rudy but nothing from last year suggest he wont be on the court at the end of the game. Your ending 5 has so many rebounding and rim protection issues. People are focusing on this teams offense and I get it that is were we struggled the most last year and is the sexy part of the game. However this team is still built on defense and thats not going to change.

Because this is a Randle threat I will tie my defensive take in with him. I think he will buy in quickly and just add another dawg on that end. He bring us a stronger force on that end of the court. He isn't a 7'0ft but rebounds very well can move his feet and has the attitude to not want to be the weak link out there. If this group could make Towns play defense and look good I am sure they can do the same for Randle and it might even be better.

The only real question I have right now is how will Naz and Randle play together on defense? I mean we know who Rudy and Randle are by now. I can pretty much see how that will look like on the court on both ends. I think when Rudy is out Jaden, Ant and DD/NAW will have to be on the court and really pushing up on the ball defense. Then everyone is going to have to help rebound unless Naz has gotten a lot better there.

[jpatrick]

Yeah, I’m wondering about that Naz/Randle pairing on D. On offense, Randle will thrive with Naz and three other shooters. That’s spacing he’s never had. However, Naz isn’t really a center and neither is Randle. Both are known as below average centers. That’s not great out of your bigs. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s possible that insulating them with three good perimeter defenders will make the defense adequate in those minutes.

As others have said, I wonder about the Gobert/Randle spacing. Not for Randle’s offense but for Ants. Randle may put up the same number of threes as KAT, but he’s not respected out there. Teams will clog the paint (they don’t respect McDaniels shot either) taking away any ability for Ant to drive unless Randle/McDaniel find consistency in that shot.

[Klomp]

As others have said, I wonder about the Gobert/Randle spacing. Not for Randle’s offense but for Ants. Randle may put up the same number of threes as KAT, but he’s not respected out there. Teams will clog the paint (they don’t respect McDaniels shot either) taking away any ability for Ant to drive unless Randle/McDaniel find consistency in that shot.

Again, I feel like this narrative is a false assumption. Defenses will always respect opponents who have shown a willingness to put up a shot.

I think people fear this situation will turn into a Draymond Green or Kyle Anderson. But for those two, the difference between them and Randle is that they don't want to put up a shot, not that they aren't great shooters. Even when Kyle averaged 40% two seasons ago it wasn't really respected....because it was more about the willingness to take the shot. Kyle has only averaged two 3s per game once in his career. Before last season, Draymond had a seven-season stretch where he averaged under three 3s per game.

Julius doesn't shy away from the shot, and there are plenty of times where he has been known to get hot. Yes, the percentage isn't great, but it is enough to where it has to be respected, especially at the volume he takes them.

I think we'll see a lot of drive and kick action. Ant has shown to be pretty good at this, and it is a strength of Julius as well. It's why his assist numbers are so solid year over year.

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[BlacJacMac]

Julius doesn't shy away from the shot, and there are plenty of times where he has been known to get hot. Yes, the percentage isn't great, but it is enough to where it has to be respected, especially at the volume he takes them.

Exactly. No team is going to leave Randle open for 3s. Or dare him to shoot them.

[Klomp]

Julius doesn't shy away from the shot, and there are plenty of times where he has been known to get hot. Yes, the percentage isn't great, but it is enough to where it has to be respected, especially at the volume he takes them.

Exactly. No team is going to leave Randle open for 3s. Or dare him to shoot them.

Something else to consider....you might argue that opponents may actually scheme to run Randle off the line rather than letting him shoot, for the reasoning that him driving with Gobert out there could in theory clog the paint more than sagging off him and letting him shoot.

[BlacJacMac]

Julius doesn't shy away from the shot, and there are plenty of times where he has been known to get hot. Yes, the percentage isn't great, but it is enough to where it has to be respected, especially at the volume he takes them.

Exactly. No team is going to leave Randle open for 3s. Or dare him to shoot them.

Something else to consider....you might argue that opponents may actually scheme to run Randle off the line rather than letting him shoot, for the reasoning that him driving with Gobert out there could in theory clog the paint more than sagging off him and letting him shoot.

I'm less worried about that. He's meshed well with Mitchell Robinson, Noel, Hartenstein, Gibson...

[Klomp]

I wonder how much extra Mike Conley can pull from Julius Randle, just from the Memphis teams with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Different era of course, but those teams also started Tony Allen so there was very little spacing out there but the point guard made it all work.

[DaMplsKid]

Don't get me wrong spacing is great but I also feel like it's the new "it" word in the game. Scorers will create space and Randle is a scorer.

All I have heard about is Ant working on his off the ball movement. If thats the case and you add Donte that movement alone in going to get the ball to move and make defense work which will cause opening. I also think Randle and ANT are physical/strong enough but also crafty enough to score in a packed lane.

Again I have way less question about offense as I do about defense and teh NAZ/Randle pairing. It could be great if both are out there running but neither are rim protectors and Naz's history hasn't been a great rebounder. I do think we have the pesky type of guards that can apply the ball pressure plus this lineup will mostly be matched up against bench bigs.

[Colbinii]

Don't get me wrong spacing is great but I also feel like it's the new "it" word in the game. Scorers will create space and Randle is a scorer.

I mean...have you looked at any surface level data regarding 3PA/G. Have you looked at where players stand on the court and where P&R levels happen and how far above the break they take place now versus 10 or 20 years ago?

Scorer's can create space. Having a 40% 3P shooter on the 3P line creates space, and even more space if they are 40% Above-The-Break 3P Shooters.

But this isn't an 'it' word. The Boston Celtics won the NBA Finals with 5 shooters in their starting line-up while all 7 rotation players could shoot the 3-Ball.

The Mavericks only ever had 1 non-shooter in the game, and they created space by being elite vertical spacers above the rim [Alley-Oop machines].

All I have heard about is Ant working on his off the ball movement. If thats the case and you add Donte that movement alone in going to get the ball to move and make defense work which will cause opening. I also think Randle and ANT are physical/strong enough but also crafty enough to score in a packed lane.

Yes, off-ball movement generates spacing. The name of the game is spacing, and spacing is more than simply "What is your 3P percentage". Offensive Sets generate spacing, and the spacing is enhanced when the players on the court can make an open 3P shot. ANT/Randle running a 2-man game with 2 or 3 shooters is very different with ANT/Randle running a 2-man game with 0-1 shooters on the court.