[llperez]

So Julius randle is coming into the final year of his rookie contract and my im really curious to see how he does this year and if he will be in Lakers long term plans. Apparently after last season ended, Magic Johnson told each of the Lakers players that anyone who is over7-8% body fat wont see the court next season. Julius randle was apparently at 12.7% body fat and took the message loud and clear. He hired a personal trainer that he is seeing every day and in the first 5 weeks he lost 13 pounds and got down to 8.3% body fat and he is still going with plans to see the trainer throughout the off season as much as possible. The trainer is also apparently helping with hip mobility and increased explosiveness. Check out the day 1 and week 5 picture in this article:

https://www.lakersnation.com/inside-look-at-the-story-behind-lakers-julius-randles-body-transformation/2017/06/20/

Now while i hope for the best, im skeptical that he is in the lakers long term plans. While he averaged 13.2ppg…8.6rpg…3.6apg…and shot a career best 49% from the field last season, he just doesnt protect the rim, doesnt do good job in switches and help side defense, and he doest stretch the floor. Also his strength tends to be handling the ball and taking slower bigs off the dribble and creating for himself or teammates. With Ball in town now plus the desire to develop bradnon ingram, its going to be hard to continue to play to randles strengths(iso ball) while ignoring his weaknesses(shooting/defense). I do like the fact he is fast break machine for a pf so that should fit well with the lakers desire to play at a high speed.

What are your thoughts him? What kind of contract will he demand and where do you see him being a good fit if not the lakers?

[Sewok15Participant]

I bet Magic wasn’t 8% body fat in his playing days…this seems hypocritical. 

[llperez]

 im also guessing they wont hold true to it other then giving the players a hard time in training camp. End of day the best players will play when it ocunts.

[llperez]

 i must have forgot to type the "o" in counts lol

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

I heard Magic still keeps in touch with Pat Riley as his mentor in regards to the front office stuff.

Given that, he wants to follow the Pat Riley model where everybody must be in PERFECT shape or you will suffer in trainings. Miami summer camps are boot camps, and it turned out well for Dion Waiters and James Johnson, who both credit Riley for the much improved physique.

[Andrew1984Participant]

 NBA basketball in 2017 is not NBA basketball in 1985.

Since when does a GM or coach’s shortcomings as a player prohibit him from asking for more out of those he oversees? Hey, Ty Lue only shot 43.7 percent from the field; what a hypocrite he must be for demanding better efficiency from the Cavaliers the last two years!

 

 

[Sewok15Participant]

 It was a joke…but that being said there should be exceptions to every rule. 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 WELP.  Looks like Brook Lopez wont get off the bench then.

[90sNYKParticipant]

"I wasn’t here for that talk." – Brook Lopez

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

He’s gonna be an animal next season. I don’t know if he can play 5 because he might not be able to protect the rim that well, but he’s too strong for 4s and too quick for 5s to guard him. This was true when he was tubby and now even more so

[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

I’m thinking he is gone by the deadline along with Deng. Just don’t see him working into the lakers long terms plans and is the most realistic sweetener the lakers can throw in on a salary dump situation. Larry Nance is the better fit in my opinion.

[MopgrassParticipant]

 I don’t think he needs to block shots. His one on one defense is pretty good. He’s actually great guarding the perimeter. But the switches kill him. Over and over. He has no idea how to help. If he could solve that he’d be a very good asset. Regardless, they’re going the shooting direction with Lonzo in tow. Kuzma and Nance should do some floor spreading (more so Kuzma). Randle is expendable. I’d say they could flip him to the Kings for Aflalo, but they just got Giles. Who needs a Randle right now?

[90sNYKParticipant]

Randle is a great young prospect. Very versatile offensive player and by the looks of it a hardworker. My only knock on him is that he has these dinosaur like very short arms and that limits him some what. I’m inclined to think that Magic and Pelinka are into analytics and maybe dont buy into Randle being in their longterm plans just based off of that fact. Even still good on Randle to work hard and get into great shape. 

[EndlessknightParticipant]

Think he’s going to have a huge contract year and Lakers will be forced to trade him or pay big.

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

Going into his 4th year. I don’t expect much growth from him anymore.  (Between being injured,  and bad player development).  He just didn’t blossom.

A good role player. That’s about it.

[BallerScriptParticipant]

 You could say he is a draymond lite without the defense which isn’t very effective.

[JoeWolf1]

I’ve come around a little bit on him. I was worried when he came out of Kentucky that he’d have trouble finishing at the rim, and he did. As a rookie he just shot in the mid 50% range at the rim, but raised that to the mid 60% range during his (technically 3rd) but 2nd full season.

I liked the versatility he showed as a passer last year. With Walton being such a good passing forward, I can’t help but think his presence helped Julius develop in that regard.

I think Randle is a really good piece, that LA would be smart to try to hold on to. I don’t think he’s even a 3rd offensive option, but he’ll collect defensive boards and now that he’s a more efficient offense player, he can do a little bit of everything. In a fast paced league, having a guy like him who can grab a D board and lead the break if need be is a nice asset.

In regards to his next contract, him developing his mid-range game and being able to space the floor a little bit will dictate how much money he gets. Randle is still relegated to a scoring threat in the paint, but he did show improvement in his mid-range shooting percentages last year. Probably a few years away from being any real threat beyond the arc…

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

I like his character as much as I like his game, I’ll never forget the fact that he wrote a letter about his 1 year college experience. I like his game even more

Reading that article and looking at the pics – he is looking ripping – hes primed for a very good year no matter what happens. Hope it helps his defense as stated in the article.

 

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 If Randal is not traded and if it looks like he will be the starting PF next to Lopez, I will be picking him up in fantasy basketball this season. Brook’s PFs always rebound very well next to him. And Brook spaces the floor and helps your offense. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Coaches were often not as good as the players they coached or didn’t even play in the NBA so we cannot really compare what they ask of their players to how good they were. To gage what sort of deal Randle might get is hard with the cap having shot up and him not being at the level that recently renewed bigs like Adams, Gobert etc are at.

I’d use someone like Alex Len who is going into RFA as a ballpark yardstick for Randle’s possible value. But if Mosgov got $16 million a year then Randle would surely be looking for something upwards of that. Throw in the Lakers possible FA moves next summer, do they want to commit to Randle this summer without knowing what moves they may want to make next year. Thew risk is, he has a good year and a team with cap space throws him a big offer the Lakers cannot really match unless they change their FA plans.

Personally I’d get him tied down, he has had injury issues so getting a decent guaranteed 2nd deal in place might appeal to his advisors. But the Lakers may look to put a team option in for year 3 say.

 

 

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