On a day revolving around the future of their franchise, the Lakers received some great news regarding one of their possible franchise cornerstones. In the midst of the Lakers working out several possible draft picks, last year’s lottery pick Julius Randle was back on the court.
-== 5 Determining Factors for Lakers’ Julius Randle’s Future ==-
According to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Randle has been cleared for 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 half court full contact drills:
"Lakers rookie forward Julius Randle also participated in a series of full-contact, half-court 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 drills, marking the latest progress he has made since fracturing his right tibia in the season opener of the 2014-15 season."
Randle, who broke his leg in last year’s season opener, has been slowly working his way back into game shape. Recently, general manager Mitch Kupchak said he felt that Randle had recovered completely from his broken leg.
The goal from the beginning was for Randle to be ready to play in his second consecutive summer league along side the likes of Jordan Clarkson, this year’s No. 2, 27 and 34 picks. However, according to Medina, the Lakers will not risk playing Randle in the Summer League unless he is 100 percent ready.
"The Lakers have held out hope that Randle could heal completely enough to play on the team’s Las Vegas summer league team in July. But the Lakers will not have Randle play unless he completely recovers to ensure that he arrives to training camp in late September fully healthy."
Pairing a healthy Randle alongside a fully recovered Kobe, hopefully either Jahlil Okafor or Karl Towns, and Jordan Clarkson gives the Lakers a formidable unit to build around.
As long as the Lakers can stay healthy, the future continues to look brighter and brighter for the purple and gold.