The Los Angeles Lakers were able to get their best win of the season against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. What came as a surprise was how little Julius Randle played.
In their first game without Brook Lopez, the Los Angeles Lakers knew that they were going to have some different looking rotations with their starting center out. Against the Rockets, Luke Walton made some surprising changes to the starting lineup, as both Andrew Bogut and Kyle Kuzma entered the starting five.
While sliding Bogut in for Lopez wasn’t too much of a shocker, moving Kuzma in for Larry Nance Jr. was. Earlier in the season, Kuzma was a starter when Nance was out because of his fractured hand. However, Nance was re-inserted into the starting lineup when he came back.
What was very interesting to see after the changes to the starting lineup was how Walton handled his bench. Usually, Julius Randle had been the first big off the bench for the Lakers. However, with Nance being on the bench now, it was him who came in first.
Nance played quite well off the bench, as he totaled 22 minutes, 13 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. As the starter, Kuzma lit up the Rockets for 38 points, as he had the best game of his young career.
What was shocking to see was that Randle played just eight minutes against the Rockets. If Wednesday was any indication moving forward, the Lakers might be phasing Randle out of the rotation. After the injury to Lopez, Randle figured to be in line for more minutes, but that was not the case at all.
Despite playing arguably the best basketball of his career, Randle has seen his minutes drop significantly this season. Averaging just over 22 minutes per game, he is playing about six minutes less than the previous two years. This could be an indication that Walton prefers to use the combo of Kuzma and Nance rather than Randle.
Next: 3 Takeaways from win vs. Rockets
Since Randle will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, the lack of playing time on Wednesday night could be an indication that the Lakers don’t see him in their future plans. With the trade deadline quickly approaching, Randle’s name will certainly be one mentioned in rumors moving forward.