The Los Angeles Lakers should reward Julius Randle more playing time
Should the Los Angeles Lakers consider going back to Julius Randle as the team’s starting power forward?
Should the Los Angeles Lakers consider a lineup change this early in the 2017-18 regular season?
So far this season, the Lakers have used Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., and Brook Lopez as their starting five. It’s a fine group that can result in positive success as the season goes on. Ball operating the show, Caldwell-Pope, Ingram and Lopez as shooters and Nance as a rim-runner. It works on paper.
However, former lottery pick Julius Randle is playing really well and is someone that has warranted more playing time.
So far this season, Randle is averaging 10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. While it’s a fair drop in his per game stats from last season, Randle is more efficient to start the season, shooting 60 percent from the floor, while still bringing his activity on the glass. While the move from starter to reserve came with a decrease in minutes, it has come with an improvement in production for Randle so far.
The most intriguing number on Randle is 19.3. That’s the minutes per game Randle has played in the first six games of the season. It’s fair to wonder if Randle could sustain his play with a modest bump in playing time. When he was a starter, Randle was one of the league’s worst defenders and never shot above 50 percent from the field.
With Randle playing well now, it could be best to leave him where he is and allow him to use his skill-set to beat up on second units.
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When looking at the power forward position for the Los Angeles Lakers, it appears to be one that should be able to play off of Brook Lopez. Lopez, entering his 10th season in the league, has evolved his game from a more bruising, low-post game to a big man who can run an effective pick-and-pop game. So far this season, Lopez has already attempted 20 3s and is coming off 387 attempts last year.
That means the second big man should be someone who can cover for Lopez’s rebounding ability as well as offer a good pick-and-roll partner for Lonzo Ball. In that case, both players work. Nance Jr. is a good roll man and has rebounded well to start the season, where Randle is also a good roll man, but an even better rebounder than Nance both historically and statistically.
Should Randle replace Nance Jr. in the starting lineup? It’s tough to say. From Basketball-Reference.com, here are Randle and Nance Jr’s per 36 numbers so far this season:
| Player | Season | G | GS | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Nance | 2017-18 | 6 | 6 | 7.0 | 11.1 | .628 | 0.0 | 0.5 | .000 | 7.0 | 10.6 | .659 | 2.6 | 3.9 | .667 | 3.6 | 7.5 | 11.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 16.6 |
| Julius Randle | 2017-18 | 6 | 0 | 7.4 | 12.4 | .600 | 0.3 | 0.9 | .333 | 7.1 | 11.5 | .622 | 4.3 | 6.5 | .667 | 2.2 | 7.1 | 9.3 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 19.6 |
So far this season, Randle and Nance are both playing well per 36 minutes. Randle is providing more scoring, assists and blocks, while Nance is holding his own in the steals category and an advantage as a rebounder. Despite Nance’s reputation as a better defender, Randle is holding his own in advanced defensive stats, which suggest Randle is playing better on that end.
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Using the basic eye test, too, Randle is playing much harder on the defensive end, and perhaps that could be attributed to his pending restricted free agent status at the end of the season, or the fact he’s vying for more playing time as the season continues. Either way, Randle is active on the defensive end and that has been a contributing factor to a great start to his season.
Ultimately, I believe Randle should get more playing time. For starters, he’s proven himself so far to be one of Los Angeles’ five best players to start the season. Second, he should be rewarded for a strong start. A move from the starting lineup to the bench could lose Nance early, especially since he never did anything to lose the job.
The Los Angeles Lakers have several options and maneuvers they can make and one I would explore is to get Julius Randle more minutes this season. As a player, Randle has played well in limited minutes and even showing his ability to be more active defensively. A jump from 19 minutes to say, 25 minutes per game, is respectable one that could allow him to remain effective.
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Whether or not he could thrive when being placed back into a larger role is another question, but Randle’s start has been good and he should be slightly rewarded for it.