Los Angeles Lakers could really use Julius Randle
The Los Angeles Lakers made the wrong move when they allowed Julius Randle to leave as a free agent.
With all the hoopla surrounding LeBron James and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers’ free agent signings, not much has been said about this season’s offseason blunder: letting Julius Randle walk away in free agency.
We’re only one preseason game in, but we’ve seen enough to confirm our skepticism. The Lakers’ frontline is simply not good enough to compete for a title.
JaVale McGee has come a long way. He’s an excellent energy guy and was a quality reserve for the Golden State Warriors, but he’s simply not equipped to be a title contender’s primary inside scorer, defender and rebounder.
Likewise, Michael Beasley, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma aren’t strong enough to finish under the basket in traffic and each guy couldn’t care less about help-side defense and rebounding.
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On the flipside, Julius Randle relishes in the paint and has become a modern-day Elton Brand. He was the Lakers’ go-to player at the end of last season and led the team in scoring and rebounding while averaging career bests 16.1 points (on 55.8 percent shooting) and 8.0 rebounds. Randle runs well, finishes relentlessly and plays hard. He’s an ideal big in today’s NBA and is merely 23 years old.
The Laker apologists will tell you that the team couldn’t afford to lock Julius Randle into an expensive long-term deal, but Randle signed a two-year contract with the New Orleans Pelicans that will net him roughly $9 million during each of the next two seasons.
Two years is hardly “long-term” and $9 million per year is a drop in the bucket. For reference, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made nearly $18 million last year and is set to make another $12 million this season on consecutive one-year deals.
The Lakers did ink LeBron James last summer, so Laker fans will keep most of their complaints about the front office to themselves, but Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have already made a fair amount of head scratching moves. LeBron turns 34 this season and time is undefeated. LeBron’s addition means nothing if the surrounding cast is inadequate.
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The Lakers will need a quality big to win in the playoffs and we let one of the best in the league walk away for nothing.