Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Best draft picks of 2010s

3. Julius Randle, PF/C, University of Kentucky, 2014 Draft.

Julius Randle marked the changing point for the Los Angeles Lakers. Being the 1st lottery pick for the Los Angeles Lakers since Andrew Bynum in 2005, Randle arrived in LA with massive expectations upon his shoulders.

However, those expectations were put on hold in his 1st regular-season game. Randle broke his leg 14 minutes into his Lakers career, ending his rookie season before it ever really begun.

Randle spent the year working with the training and medical staff in order to get the mental reps to prepare him for the next year.

Randle came into his sophomore year ready and averaged 11.3ppg and 10.2rpg.

While Randle was starting to look the part, there was criticism galore surround his game.  He was considered left-hand dominant and seemed unwilling to go to the right side of the paint. He was maligned for his inability to score anywhere other than the paint and his poor defensive stats really stood out.

In his 3rd and 4th seasons with the Lakers, Randle started to put other aspects of his game together, he was developing an ability to shoot outside of the paint, he seemed a lot more willing on the defensive end of the floor and was going right a lot more.

The Lakers removed the offer sheet they extended for Randle in order to maximize spending power to land LeBron James and a second star.

The Lakers would soon regret this decision.

Randle signed with the Pelicans and put up a borderline All-Star caliber season for New Orleans averaging 21.4ppg and 8.7rpg. Randle has since moved onto the New York Knicks and in a forward heavy rotation is still averaging 18.8ppg and 9.0rpg while dishing out 3.3apg.

Randle on this Lakers team would be an excellent 3rd option for the purple and gold.

His ability to crash the boards, to pass and to finish in the paint would give the Lakers a significant scoring boost. With Anthony Davis’ ability to stretch the floor it could have been a match made in heaven.