NBA Rumors: Will Los Angeles Lakers Move Julius Randle To Center?
The Los Angeles Lakers are sitting on a pot of gold and may not even know it. With Julius Randle set to become a free agent, the Lakers are pondering what to do with their young forward. The easy answer should be to resign and then move him. No, not a sign and trade but a position change. The Lakers should put Randle as their new starting center.
The Los Angeles Lakers can look at Brook Lopez’s contract as a blessing in disguise. There have been rumors that Julius Randle would love to remain a Laker, this is the opportunity the team needs to get their ducks in a row.
[MarkAds]With the Lakers logjam at the power forward position, Lopez’s possible exit opens the door for Luke Walton to play small ball and place Randle in at the starting center position. For the season, Lopez averaged a career-low 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on 46 percent shooting. However, the reason for us departure will be his salary. While he’s a free agent, Lopez may not be willing to take such a huge pay cut from $22.6 million. This is the out the Lakers have been waiting for to usher in a new era.
While Lopez stands at 7 feet, Randle would be the perfect replacement even at his size (6-9) for Walton to be able to run the offense he helped coach while with the Golden State Warriors. This is much like the Warriors do now with Draymond Green at the position this season. For the 2018-18 season, Randle has averaged 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the floor. The issue with Lopez is his lack of defense and rebounding, plus he believes he’s a three-point (34 percent, four per game) shooter now.
By playing Randle at center, it will give the Lakers better spacing and the ability to take advantage of fast break opportunities with all five players running the floor. Lopez is agile in the post, but he’s not as athletic as Randle.
The big reason for this move, it will allow the Los Angeles Lakers to focus on finding a shooting guard through free agency and not have to worry about paying high-priced free agents like DeMarcus Cousins or Jusuf Nurkic top dollar. Randle has been with the team his entire four-year career and has built a relationship with the current players.
Los Angeles Lakers Must Keep Julius Randle
This move will also allow Walton to play with a combination of Randle, Kyle Kuzma, and Brandon Ingram at the same time. Image how versatile the Lakers will be. Kuzma has emerged as a tough inside scorer who can also step out on the perimeter. The same goes for the slashing Ingram who has managed to tailor his game a bit like Paul George this season. While the Lakers will not be as big as the New Orleans Pelicans, the will be a tough matchup for most teams.
But the big benefactor of this move will be Lonzo Ball. In his rookie season, Ball averaged 7.2 assists and while that’s a good number, it will rise with the loss of Lopez and addition of Randle in the starting unit. Ball loves to direct the tempo and with the Lakers smaller and more athletic, Ball can easily resemble a younger Jason Kidd with this unit.
While the talk is still LeBron James and Paul George, the Los Angeles Lakers may not really know what they have right in front of time. The Lakers have yet to decide what they want to do with Randle but at some pit, they have to stand behind the players who have been there and see where this youth takes them. It all begins by showing a bit of loyalty to the Lakers most consistent players over the last two seasons. Julius Randle deserves his payday and a chance to become the star we all know he can be.
[BXReporter] [matchedcontent]
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
