2014-15 Official Lakers Season Thread, Vol: We Love Each Other

How Many Wins This Season?

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Sun Yue - Chinese (Mandarin)
Lamar - Candy Man
Booz - Black Ice

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Julius Randle’s Arrested Development
Yet another Kentucky “One and Done,” what will become of the Los Angeles Lakers’ prized and undeveloped rookie?

In a mostly empty gym in the middle of the Vegas desert, Julius Randle barreled down the floor with purpose, his mind made up that he was going coast-to-coast. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound runaway train of a forward bore down on the smaller defender between him and the basket with what seemed like a sole intention before, at the last second, delivering a gorgeous no-look lefty dish to an open teammate at the rim.

Two points went up on the board, and confused looks were shot around the gym. Who is this guy?

But we know this guy. It’s Randle, the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, and the newest breath of hope for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Understand that the double-takes Randle created during Summer League weren’t for the typical reasons, like a lack of previous exposure or the addition of the ever-popular “15 pounds of muscle.” Randle was largely considered one the most-known entities in his draft class — a post player with elite strength and athleticism who could overpower opponents to score at the rim with ease. But for as good as he was in his one year at Kentucky, Randle’s efficiency seemed to come at the cost of expanding his versatility.

According to Nate Duncan at Basketball Insiders, Randle had fewer than 20 possessions all season as a roll man going to the basket, and he shot just for 9-for-52 on jumpers. He was almost exclusively a paint scorer and rebounder, and one with extremely limited defensive output, to boot. Randle’s hyper-focused play helped lead Kentucky to the national title game last April, but his individual production doesn’t feel all that transferable to the next level.

It’s widely acknowledged that big men coming into the league tend to develop a little slower than guards, which might not be ideal for a Lakers team operating in Kobe Bryant’s rapidly closing window. A lot of that has to do with those players having the ball in their hands more often, but the combination of an increasingly complex series of backline NBA defensive rotations and the league’s shift to a less post-oriented offensive game are factors, too. It’s harder for young big men to warrant major playing time given all the adjustments.

Knowledge retention and repetition each play a major part in a young NBA player’s developmental process. A great college guard usually gets to do the things that make him great for the majority of his career, but rookie big men typically need to add nuance to their games that wasn’t previously necessary.

In that sense, it’s a good thing that Randle looked like a completely different player in the NBA’s summer league — floating on the perimeter and playing like a wing —mere months removed from being chained to the paint for Kentucky. It’s a small sample size, but Randle almost never posted up with his back to the basket in Summer League; instead, he was isolating off the dribble. He wasn’t throwing up “Moses Malone” shots over double-coverage just to get his own rebound; he was pulling up and kicking out to open shooters. He was making plays.

You’re probably sick of the fuss about stretch big men, and how they’re taking over the league, but stretch is about more than just shooting. Today’s frontcourt players also need to be adept passers, able to make quick and accurate decisions when reading defenses from the middle of the floor. Randle had just 57 assists in 40 games at Kentucky, and generally speaking, college bigs don’t get the reps to develop these particular skills at that level.

Admittedly, that’s in part because college basketball is a different game with different rules than the NBA, but if the Utopian goal for great young prospects is to receive professional development and be showcased, then most collegiate experiences are only providing half of the equation.

We’ve seen other cases in recent years. Take 2013 No. 4 overall pick, Cody Zeller, for example. He spent two seasons at Indiana, and in his last year there, he shot just 0.7 jumpers per game, according to DraftExpress.com.

But in his rookie year for Charlotte, Zeller relied on his jumper as his primary offensive weapon, with disastrous results.

Zeller’s entire purpose on the basketball court changed from being a post scorer to a perimeter-oriented big man, rendering most of his offensive experience at Indiana obsolete. While it’s possible he might simply be an NBA bust, it’s hard to argue that Zeller wouldn’t have been better prepared for the NBA if he had done some of things that the Indiana coaching staff presumably knew would be required of him at the next level. On his particular Hoosiers teams, though, there were better shooting options available, and they needed whatever post scoring they could get. There’s a similar fear with how Randle was used last season at Kentucky.

Thomas Robinson, the 5th overall pick in 2012, shares some uncomfortable common traits with Randle as well, particularly on the defensive side of the ball in steal and block rates. According to Ian Levy’s similarity scores at HickoryHigh.com, both Robinson, Zeller and new teammate Jordan Hill ranked in the top 10 of players with college stats and profiles that matched up most closely with Randle. None have been very good pros yet, although Hill turned into a productive big under Mike D’Antoni the last 1.5 seasons.

Obviously, the Lakers are hoping Randle will be able to outproduce those players quickly, but the amnesty acquisition of Carlos Boozer — who can’t be traded this season — might signal that the front office is prepared for the possibility that Randle’s development into something more than just a paint scorer might not be so rapid.

Still, make no mistake: the Lakers will need that to happen sooner rather than later. There just isn’t much room on the roster for yet another big man who only scores at the rim, particularly with Bryant presumably spending even more time operating out of the post. The Lakers need someone who can defend on and off the ball, step up as a secondary playmaker and help space the floor in addition to everything else. That kind of evolution could happen with time, but after a year of arrested development at Kentucky, it’s Randle probably won’t have the benefit of time on his side.

Click to expand...
 
Randle and Robinson comps showing up like I had thought...DAMN IT.
 
looking forward to seeing kobe on the court again :hat

the robinson comparisons to randle are why i was so low on him during the draft. it was and is still sort of hard for me to see him not having the same difficulties those other rookies had in progressing their game to the NBA level. i'm hopeful, though.

clarkson :hat exactly the type of things i like to hear about rookies.
 
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PMatic said:
For the sneakerheads left out there, these are set to drop soon I think:

View media item 1202642
I'm good with the 2003 versions myself. :smokin
Click to expand...

YES!!! I still have the 2003 pair myself but def need some new ones. Laker color shoes were the death of me...I have clamed down but these and a Randle jersey might be in order...just hate the fact authentics are 300 now...SMH

PMatic you got an RD?
 
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tupac003 said:
PMatic said:
For the sneakerheads left out there, these are set to drop soon I think:

View media item 1202642
I'm good with the 2003 versions myself. :smokin
Click to expand...

YES!!! I still have the 2003 pair myself but def need some new ones. Laker color shoes were the death of me...I have clamed down but these and a Randle jersey might be in order...just hate the fact authentics are 300 now...SMH

PMatic you got an RD?
Click to expand...
No, I just seen it on the other sneaker site. No release date given.
SenorRoboto2k5 said:
Are those an old colorway? I only remember the white/yellow ones that Fish always wore
Click to expand...
It's a new colorway.

Just a reverse of the white/yellows.
 
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Wore the hell out of both of these to most of the Laker games I went back in the day...wish they looked better...

View media item 1202856
And then the one pair of laker shoes that never made it to a game....still can't believe I won the hunt, paid 81 bucks for them then about a year later met Kobe at and event for the zk2's and he blessed me with an autograph on these....

View media item 1202866
:smokin
 
I was as mad as anybody with all of the underwhelming signings this off-season, but I can't help but wait until the season starts. Can't wait to watch my team on the court again :hat
 
Pretty sure I remember your post(s) in the original ZK1 thread tupac.

Lucky man. :hat
 
I'm pretty interested by 2015 Point Guard Free Agency because of what the Suns did.

They want to bring Dragic back, but if he signs for what his market is thanks to Eric Bledsoe, they'll be looking at a very similar team every year for a few years, not sure how attractive that really is. Even if they can transform the team and get someone that makes them a contender due to higher salary cap, that 18 PG roster always pisses somebody off because they'll lose minutes or not get the ball as much as they want.

I don't believe for a second Rondo's first choice today is to stay with Boston.

Lin could also prove to be a keeper at less than Dragic would command per year.
 
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