RollingWave wrote:Randle's game seems a lot more likely to translate than Levine's at at the start of their career anyway.
Even if that's true, you have to look at the context within the Lakers as a team. The Lakers aren't going to be contending in the next 2 years, until they can try to steal a top 10 player. Would you rather have a lesser player who can contribute more immediately to be playoff fodder or a guy who can be a franchise player in 2 or 3 years?
The whole thing on if guys can do it against bigger and stronger player is usually a bigger question for perimeter players really, there's A LOT of undersized bigs that worked out perfectly fine in the league, not flying over the basket is a considerably smaller problem then actually being able to finish through contact.
Two words...Anthony Bennett.
And again, "worked out perfectly fine" means what...for a Carl Landry, Paul Millsap backup big man off the bench player? Or a franchise player? Because undersized bigs usually do not become franchise players. That list has got to be very, very short.
I have some questions on Randle's game myself, but finishing through contact is definitely not one of them. if anything he's the surest thing to be able to do that in this draft. (my main worry is that his game seem to be better built for an earlier era of basketball.)
There's A LOT of freak athlete who isn't very good in the NBA level because they can't finish through contact (or at least unwilling to .) , Gerald Green is a perfect example of this, some of the highest leap measurement in combines are guys who you will surely not associate with greatness, for example, Triston Thompson. Terrence Ross also hasn't done much, and I'm not entirely sure if Lavine is even Terrence Ross.
Of course he isn't, because LaVine has POINT GUARD skills. This must be incredibly hard to comprehend because people are using Zach's athleticism somehow AGAINST him. All the Gerald Green comparisons have to stop, because Gerald Green has always been a limited player (although he had a great season last year, posting a PER similar to Monta Ellis', and per36 was 20 pts, 4 brds with solid percentages).
In judging if a big can make it in the NBA, I think 2 most obvious factor is 1. is he physical enough to stand his own in the post on both ends of the floor? and 2. does he have a good feel for the ball both on and off it ? I think in these two respect I see Randle as probably being the best bigs prospect , so he has the least bust factor outside of injury concerns.
Now, if healthy I think Emiid's ceiling is much higher, but I have a very very very hard time seeing Randle bust in non injury related situations.
Nobody is calling Randle a bust. The question is, what are the expectations? And I will go back to some basic observations of him: He will not be a rim protector. As a big man, that hurts - because defense wins championships, and now you have to make sure Randle plays next to a great defensive center.
So you move to offense. Now Randle produces most of his offense from the perimeter attacking the basket. He hasn't shown to be a back-to-the-basket big man with a legit post game, nor has he shown a consistent midrange jumper. So what does that mean? It means he has a lot to work on his game.
The idea that he's the most NBA-ready - what does that mean? NBA-ready for what. To contribute? To contribute what, exactly His predominant skill in college was bullying less physical big men around the basket and using a soft touch to put the ball in the basket. Everything else he'll have to work on.
Expectations? With Carlos Boozer's addition, with Ed Davis and Ryan Kelly and Jordan Hill, all of whom have relatively established roles and skills, I expect his opportunity to be modest, which certainly doesn't help a quick adjustment to the NBA.
I do think he's going to be productive. If he sticks with his game, he can be a good sixth man like Millsap, Landry, or Lamar Odom on the championship Lakers, finishing games. He needs to make adjustments like Millsap and Odom and add a three-pointer to accommodate his natural perimeter-oriented game. Because unless he's unstoppable in the mid to high post like a Carmelo Anthony, you can't build an offense around him. So all these factors make me think role player, not franchise player. Again, we're projecting here, but we'll see soon or later. Probably later, because again, unless somebody gets injured, I don't see him getting a ton of minutes.
“OH! Caruso parachutes in! You cannot stop him - you can only hope to contain him!” -Kevin Harlan, LAL-GSW 4/4/19