How the Lakers can set the right price for Julius Randle
By Keith Rivas
It makes no sense to use the first half of the season against him
You’re trying to make your team the best it can possibly be, right? If you were in the shoes of Julius Randle at the beginning of the year, chances are you too would probably be very frustrated with how you felt the direction of the team was going — especially with your role being from the second unit for the foreseeable future.
Not to say he’s on the same level as James Harden, but think about the journey that the Rockets point guard had to take from his days as a sixth man in Oklahoma City.
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His full potential wasn’t realized until the right team said hey there’s nothing wrong with him starting for us. Then, to even prove the point further, he switched positions for a short time and in doing so found his way into the MVP conversation last year.
The Lakers need to pay Julius Randle really based on how he performs in the second half of the season. So if he performs poorly for whatever reason, okay then there is your justification to move on from him in the summer even if you don’t get the stars you want or for whatever reason you spend more than you should have on other players on the market.
However, the Randle they may have to pay is the one that’s now virtually tied with Kyle Kuzma at third on the team’s scoring chart and not far off from Brandon Ingram and Isaiah Thomas, who share the top of the list with just over 16 points per game.
Los Angeles also has to ask themselves how important it really is to have someone who can gel with the young core to play at center if need be. It’s not something that’d be a typical move for a team, especially given the history with the Lakers, but don’t you have to do what you have to do at some point?
For Julius Randle, he should just be grateful that he’s getting this chance to basically prove he belongs once and for all. He’s not just earning it, but if he keeps it up it’s easy to see he can go above and beyond.