Los Angeles Lakers: Just trade Julius Randle already

With the way they’re treating him, the Los Angeles Lakers need to show Julius Randle some mercy and just trade him away already.

This is sad. Like, really sad. Julius Randle‘s time with the Los Angeles Lakers is nearing its inevitable end, and the team isn’t even trying to play nice.

Since the start of the 2017-18 season, there have been rumors swirling about the former No. 7 overall pick being traded. They started to cool down when he was getting minutes and making a noticeable impact, but they’re picking up again with the trade deadline just over a month away.

On top of that, Randle’s minutes have begun dwindling. In the last five games, he’s averaged only 17 minutes on the floor. Compare that to the 23 minutes per game he saw during the month of November, when his stock was at its peak. In that same month, his lowest minutes total was 16 — he’s had totals of eight and 11 just in the last week and a half.

What it looks like is the Lakers played him in November, hoping to raise his trade stock. Now that the market is picking up and the deadline is nearing, they’ve scaled back his role in hopes of preserving him for potential suitors. Trades and the accompanying maneuvering, however, are unfortunate aspects of life in the NBA.

With the Lakers looking to create cap space for a potential 2018 free agency spending spree, Randle has found himself engulfed by trade rumors. His contract is up at the end of the year, and chances are, Los Angeles isn’t interested in paying him what he wants to keep him around. Instead of using that extra cap space on him, they could opt to add draft assets by dealing him away.

My problem is that they’re giving him the short end of the stick in the process.

Sure, Randle hasn’t been a star this season. He’s made some improvements on defense and has been that spark plug guy who brings tenacity and energy to the court. However, his offensive efficiency is still unimpressive, and he still isn’t the rim protector the Lakers were hoping for. While he provides versatility as a small-ball 5, it apparently hasn’t been enough to maintain a prominent role — even with Brook Lopez sidelined.