The Los Angeles Lakers take on the New York Knicks on Tuesday night in what could be a massive game for the purple and gold. The Lakers are trying to crawl out of the play-in game with just four games remaining and LeBron James is likely to return to action after missing more games with a sore right ankle.
The New York Knicks have been a revelation this season. The Knicks are fourth place in the Eastern Conference and this will be the first time they make the playoffs since the 2012-13 season. The Knicks currently have a .559 winning percentage and it would be just the third time this century that the team finishes above .550.
Perhaps the biggest reason why the Knicks are exceeding expectations is former Laker Julius Randle. Randle is legitimately playing his way into an All-NBA bid; averaging 23.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists while being wildly efficient from the field.
Randle is shooting 46% from the field and 41.3% from beyond the arc with a 52.1% effective field goal percentage. He is 16th in the league in Win Shares and 11th in Value Over Replacement Player.
It is safe to say Julius Randle is the best former member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the league today.
But what about the rest of the former Lakers? They are scattered across the league and the Lakers have been great with their scouting. You could build a pretty solid team of just former Lakers, which ironically, did not win many games together.
Julius Randle is obviously number one. You could make the case for someone else, but with the way he is playing this season, Randle deserves that spot. Here are the rest of the best former Lakers.