Yeah, but it's not about their competition, it's about their skill improvement. Iman never showed skill improvements. What we would see from him was his jumping abilities. Randle is showing an increased skill that is translatable to his NBA game. His step back shot is about the cleanest I've seen from any big man and he does it like a guard. His first step going to the rim is also quicker than any other big man I've seen. KP was a great outside shooter and a great defender, in which with a major knee injury for a 7 footer I can see that skill taking a huge hit due to lateral movement. I myself felt a huge difference in skill after tearing my ACL, yeah I may not have been a professional but being military I depended on daily (sometimes 4 a day) workout routines that a lot of pro athletes would look like "what the heck did I just get into?" It was nothing for me to wake up and say "I feel like running 5 miles today with a frack vest, rucksack, and boots." KP's skill set relies on his athleticism and with his history of knee problems + ACL tear I can't see that trend just all of a sudden disappearing.
With this team I'll take Randle over KP, Randle has more offense ability than KP from ball handling, passing (sharing), strength, backing down his opponent, driving to the basket ex........ Defense awareness is the only thing I can see KP having the upper hand over Randle, in which right now I can't see KP reacting to what his mind wants his body to do. Trust me when I say his mind will scream move to the left while his feet will stay planted as if they didn't hear him. I can see him being overly cautious, afraid to get hurt again.
To go from:
Shows dedication and a player that wants to be The Beast!
Or this:
Looks at the bar and only sees about 50lbs while I do that with singles lol.