Julius Randle To Win Rookie Of The Year?
Slam Magazine released an awesome cover, and highlighted the most celebrated rookies in the 2014 NBA Draft class.
Sandwiched between Marcus Smart, Aaron Gordon and Andrew Wiggins stands the 6’9″, 240-pound man-child Julius Randle. Similar to his rookie counterparts, Randle enters the NBA with a lot of hype and potential. The Los Angeles Lakers might have found their cornerstone in the 2014 NBA Draft when they selected the former Kentucky Wildcat with the seventh pick.
The NBA season is about a month away and Randle begins as one of the favorites to win the Rookie of the Year award. Winning this trophy would give Randle an accomplishment that the greatest Laker in franchise history, Kobe Bryant has never won.
Because of his tenacious ability on the court, I have dubbed Randle “The Pitbull.”
In an interview with Mike Trudell, Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach Byron Scott said this:
"I see a young man that’s raw, but he has great feet and great quickness for his size, and he’s strong as a bull. You can tell that he wants to get better….I love those attributes, being strong, big and quick for his size. That’s a very good combination to have."
He plays like a pitbull off of his leash, running around with a purpose and becomes super aggressive playing the game of basketball. Last year for the Wildcats, Randle couldn’t be guarded.
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He recorded 24 double-doubles for Kentucky and averaged 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds. He also set a Kentucky single season record for rebounds in a season by a freshman. His physical ability in the low post made him one of the most fearsome offensive players in the nation.
“Pitbull” Randle during his lone season at Kentucky bullied his way through the defense after taking only two dribbles from the mid-post to the low post and scored with ease. Most of his shots came inside of the paint, where he is a deadly finisher.
On the occasions that Randle missed shots inside of the paint, he often rebounded he misses and scored with his second chance opportunity. His high motor and high energy is what gives him the advantage against the other bigs that he faces inside of the paint.
A lot of people thought that his strength wouldn’t translate to the NBA game, but he has shown it can work. In the Las Vegas Summer League the 19-year-old scored in double digits every game leaving Vegas averaging 12.5 points per game and contributing 4.3 rebounds.
In Vegas, Randle’s field goal percentage was nearly 42 percent, which needs to improve.
One of the weakest parts in Randle’s game is his jump shooting. However, in the offseason the Lakers brought in free agent Carlos Boozer. Randle should pick Boozer’s brain and stay on his hip and learn how to not only shoot, but to learn moves away from the basket.
Under the tutelage of Boozer for the year, and absorbing knowledge from one of the greatest players in all time in Bryant, Randle’s learning curve is going to increase more rapidly than most rookies.
Randle has a franchise and coaching staff that believe in his talent. He will earn a lot of minutes as a rookie, and he will learn from highly intelligent and experience veterans. His chance to win the 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year is as good as anyone’s in his draft class.
With all this being said, I have Jabari Parker winning the Rookie of the Year award playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Somewhere deep inside of my heart though, I want Randle to surprise myself and the rest of the NBA world and win this award for the Lakers.
Then hide it and place it with a bone in the backyard.