Julius Randle

[alaskan34pac34]

I dont post much on here as I just like reading others views on various topics and ideas for trades, draft, etc. Reading the past couple weeks I have been seeing people offering Randle in trades for much less then I ever would. Have people forgot how talented this guy is? 6'9 PF who can take the ball of a rebound and push it a la Odom. But Randle to me has the potential to be a lot better then Odom due to his strength and ability to attack the basket at such a height you dont see people do it. The draft this year is strong but Randle talent is so high i see him right with everyone else. Scott compared him to Griffin for a reason because he has skills you dont see that often. Now am I too high on him or do other Laker fans like him as much as I do.

[Mirjalovic]

I'm with you.

Offensively he has no hole in his game. He has it all, ball handling, shooting, play inside out, isolation, pick and roll/pop, some post play, really crafty plus he has weird mid-air body control that makes him really effective scoring over 4 or 5 people.

[dockingsched]

I have no doubt he has the potential to be a star but I wouldn't go as far as to say he has no hole in his game. He still favors lef hand too much, often making shots near the rim a lot harder than they have to be. He also needs to improve his decision making that often leads to bad turnovers.

[Mirjalovic]

It's correctable in time, with more experience.

[PKABOOICU]

I have no doubt he has the potential to be a star but I wouldn't go as far as to say he has no hole in his game. He still favors lef hand too much, often making shots near the rim a lot harder than they have to be. He also needs to improve his decision making that often leads to bad turnovers.

this is true. he seems to jump into traffic a little too early and makes a simple hook very frustrating, often resulting in his own outback or a defensive rebound. He's not a great finisher from 15ft out, and his jumpshot is suspect but could be easily improved.
as far as his dribbling goes, he is nowhere close to lamar odom. Odom was a point-forward; had the ability to bring the ball up the court and had superior court vision to randle....randle's ball handling is more like a chris webber/blake griffin/demarcus cousins. It's obviously not elite, but its as good as any PF in the league, which is enough.
I simply wouldn't give up on Randle based on the amount of games he's played. He's a big, NBA ready body with limited experience...and he's healthy now. The reason he's in so many trade rumors right now is because the Lakers are expected to draft Jahlil Okafor and he doesn't seem like an ideal fit next to randle...unless okafor can develop some defense, and randle can develop a consistent 20 foot jumpshot.

[EArl]

His defense obviously needs some work. He uses his left hand too much. He also forces the issue sometimes b either over dribbling or driving in with his head sown into the paint like he was a ram or something. I do think he can improve in all these facets of his game though.

[LApwnd]

When he was drafted someone posted highlights of him.doing crazy dunks with incredible athleticism but im not seeing that during games though

[ratra_1211]

Randle is our all around offensive guy that can do it all a la odom.. i cant understand why people wanted to trade him.. he looks promising during his preseason game last year, and he seems like improving now. Atleast give him a chance before putting him on our trade talk

[Frank Dux]

When he was drafted someone posted highlights of him.doing crazy dunks with incredible athleticism but im not seeing that during games though

I watched him play during summer league. I noticed he played below the rim a lot, probably due to his short wingspan. He obviously has the strength to bang, but he seemed to have trouble finishing against long defenses.

I like Randle, he's a great competitor, but he needs a lot of work based on what i've seen so far.

[ArC_man]

When he was drafted someone posted highlights of him.doing crazy dunks with incredible athleticism but im not seeing that during games though

He gained weight at Kentucky in order to bang on the inside and he was slightly out of shape heading into summer league. He's lost that weight since his surgery and I think we will see a more explosive Randle soon.

[dipstick]

I just want to second the opinion that Julius Randle is not going anywhere anytime soon. Unless the coaches and FO all believe that he's not the same pre-injury, we can't expect good value for Randle due to the leg break and foot issues. Being essentially a rookie, we are the only ones who have access to how he is post-injury and any offer of Randle would reek of red flags for opposing teams and offers would surely be very very low.

That being said, I look forward to see what he can show us and am still hoping that we got another steal from that 7th position in last year's draft.

[colman38]

Randle should look pretty good this upcoming season after all the work he has been putting in since he went down.

[moonpie]

Seeing what LeBron is accomplishing on a team of nobodies through sloppy, Barkley-style isolation basketball tells me we should keep Julius.

[Dr Aki]

i want to see an improved jumper and a right hand, but most of all, i want to see him play above average defense

[SlimShady83]

I want to know if Lakers are going to see how he goes as SF or keep him as a PF???

[ak7]

I highly doubt they seriously consider him at the 3 unless he vastly improves defensively

[One Love]

In today's NBA Randle is an ideal 4... Look at most teams in playoffs... They have a PG (Curry & Delladova), three WINGS (Klay, Iggy & Green or JR, Shump & LBJ) & a center (Bogut or TT/Mozgov)... The new NBA... Even Spurs play Parker (PG) with Duncan (C) & three WINGS (Green, Manu & Diaw)... If Okafor is our CENTER than Kobe, Clarkson & Randle play the WINGS with a PG (could be Clarkson)... The BIG question for the Lakers is whether they consider Clarkson a PG or not... That is our question now, assuming we draft Okafor...

The game has changed & Randle could be the ideal PF...

[dipstick]

In today's NBA Randle is an ideal 4... Look at most teams in playoffs... They have a PG (Curry & Delladova), three WINGS (Klay, Iggy & Green or JR, Shump & LBJ) & a center (Bogut or TT/Mozgov)... The new NBA... Even Spurs play Parker (PG) with Duncan (C) & three WINGS (Green, Manu & Diaw)... If Okafor is our CENTER than Kobe, Clarkson & Randle play the WINGS with a PG (could be Clarkson)...

The game has changed & Randle could be the ideal PF...

I still dont necessarily believe that the game has changed that much. Yes, more guard-centric but thats because of the lack of quality bigs and the amount of "star" point guards around the league. However, we do not build another Golden State to succeed, but you have to pattern your game plan to your strength. At the end of the day, its the team that takes advantage of their mismatches the most is the team that will be most successful.

I don't think that anyone will say that our championship teams with our dominant big men from the past will not be successful im today's NBA.

[PKABOOICU]

yeah, the game hasn't really changed...there are 2 teams that play through bigs- grizzlies and spurs... and thats because they have elite bigs....1 of those teams won the championship last year, and the other team would have knocked out the warriors if they were healthy.

there is a lack of quality of bigs right now...after kobe retires, this is jahlil okafor's team period...and I see him playing a lot like Lamarcus Aldridge without the jumper but better post moves. The lakers would then need to dwell defense into the system (especially on randle/okafor) and sign a veteran 3 and D small forward...Id kill to bring trevor ariza back to the lakers.

[john248]

Well, there's no new information with regards to Randle since he was injured for the season. The same concerns will be there due to that: questionable defense due to lack of wingspan, doesn't use his right hand to score, inconsistent jump shot. I don't see him pushing the ball up court either like Odom or Griffin but more of a good 2 or 3 dribble guy that can get to the hoop. Odom and Griffin are/were fluid in getting up the court and had good vision whereas I don't see that court vision with Randle. It's been reported that he's been working on his jump shot, so I think he'll be fine there as his career progresses. He'll probably end up better utilizing his right hand close to the basket as time goes on too. The guy seems like a hard worker and a good kid.

Randle isn't going anywhere though. He's still on his rookie deal, and it's never a good idea to sell low anyways. He'll probably be minimally a solid starter in this league with the hope that he'll be a hustle, box out rebounding machine who can get high percentage baskets.