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New Orleans Pelicans: 3 goals for Julius Randle in 2018-19

By Eric Spyropoulos

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JULY 13: General Manager Dell Demps and Julius Randle #30 of the New Orleans Pelicans pose for a photo during a press conference on July 13, 2018 at the the Ochsner Sports Performance Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JULY 13: General Manager Dell Demps and Julius Randle #30 of the New Orleans Pelicans pose for a photo during a press conference on July 13, 2018 at the the Ochsner Sports Performance Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images.
Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images. /

2. More consistent effort on defense

Randle is a gifted athlete, as he has the athleticism and embraces physicality to play at either frontcourt position. In the modern NBA, teams are increasingly looking for bigs that can switch on the perimeter, which Randle is certainly capable of doing. It remains to be seen if New Orleans will look to switch more defensively with Randle on the squad, but they have several guards and wings that would hypothetically be able to maintain a switching scheme.

However, Randle’s limitations as a defender mainly come from his inconsistency, both in terms of focus and effort. Obviously Randle is undersized at center and won’t be able to provide rim protection or elite rebounding, but he has struggled throughout his short career with defensive awareness and effort on a nightly basis.

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    • On a struggling Lakers team, Randle will get away with that without many people noticing. When you’re on a team that is looking to make the playoffs (and build on a Western Conference semifinals exit from last season), those defensive lapses will be pointed out and ridiculed more.

    Luckily for Randle, he is surrounded by quality defenders in Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis, and both players will be able to make up for some of Randle’s mistakes. However, he must own his defensive responsibilities, especially considering he is line for the largest role of his career (in terms of minutes per game and usage), and New Orleans was just an average defensive team last season.

    A perfect example of how effort and focus can pay off is Mirotic, who was very solid on the defensive end for New Orleans in the 2018 NBA Playoffs, especially in the first round. In his nine playoff games (obviously a small sample size), Mirotic posted 0.5 defensive win shares and a +3.2 defensive box plus-minus, both very strong measurements of his defense.

    If Randle provides more effort and engagement, he can be a strong defender, especially in a switching scheme or simply alongside Davis. He has the physical tools and situation around him to be a strong team defender, so now it’s on Randle himself to step things up on that end of the floor.

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