4. Julius Randle
Julius Randle was very good as a Laker even though most do not give him due credit. He was placed in a very unfavorable situation and the media was often unfair to him. Randle often played like a freight train and many thought him to be an erratic player on the floor, but that is what he made him a pretty solid asset. He was simply fearless down low despite being undersized and not possessing a shot as a four.
Randle has developed into a very different player since he was a Laker. He now shoots the three more often (3.6 attempts per game) but only makes them at a 27.7 percent clip. He was a lot better in the 2018-2019 season with three-pointers when he shot them at a 34.3 percent mark.
In the 2019-2020 season, Randle is averaging 19.5 points, 9.7 points, and 3.1 assists per game for the New York Knicks. He got a pretty decent-sized contract from James Dolan for three years and $63 million.
3. D’Angelo Russell
D’Lo might be the second-best player on the list right now, but we have him at third overall for future value. D’Angelo Russell had a rocky tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers that included a loss of trust with his teammates, Magic Johnson questioning his work ethic, and coach Byron Scott butting heads with him. He is practically what started the rebuild.
He was shipped along with Timofey Mozgov’s awful contract to the Brooklyn Nets to open up cap space. He became a star in Brooklyn, received a max contract from the Golden State Warriors, and then got traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The rapport of Karl Anthony-Towns and D’Angelo Russell seems to be pretty excellent and as of now, Russell is the point guard of the future and a max player for Minnesota.
Russell was always a good shooter and he is averaging over nine threes attempted per game this season. 23.1 points and 6.3 assists is a really good baseline for a player in their age 24 season.
D’Lo might not be done with his development. It is only ‘up’ from here.