Julius Randle: It’s His Time to Shine in Hollywood

Julius Randle’s injury in his first professional game for the Los Angeles Lakers last season sidelined him for the entire 2014-15 campaign. The big man that helped lead the University of Kentucky Wildcats to the 2014 Final Four and NCAA Runner-up finish, spent his rookie season focusing on rehabbing his broken leg instead of learning the ins and outs of professional basketball. When the Lakers also lost Kobe Bryant to a season-ending injury and point guard Steve Nash to injury and then retirement, the season became a disaster, the likes of which Laker Nation has never witnessed.

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In North American professional sports, there’s not another franchise that has replaced superstars like the Lakers. From George Mikan, to Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, to Elgin Baylor, to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to Magic Johnson, to Shaquille O’Neal to Kobe Bryant, LA has perfected the art of moving seamlessly from one star to the next. Except for now. Bryant is older and the Lakers are looking for the next great to take up the mantle and keep showtime running. And now that he’s healthy, Julius Randle figures prominently into that plan.

This summer, Randle has been playing for the Lakers summer team and is looking to get himself back into NBA playing shape and making sure that his leg will be healed and ready for the upcoming season. Number 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, D’Angelo Russell from Ohio State, has joined Randle as well in the summer league team. How excited are Lakers’ fans for these young guys? When the Lakers team plays, the upper level of the Thomas and Mack Center is opened up for the overflow of fans that want to see this team. Randle, even though he was only at Kentucky for one season, knows what that kind of fandom is like having experienced the Big Blue Nation.

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As a Laker fan myself, I’m excited to see what these young guys can do. Los Angeles whiffed during the NBA free agency period, so the burden of the upcoming season will be on the youngsters and how Kobe Bryant can lead them. During the summer, both Russell and Randle have shown glimpses of being the type of players that will once again have the Staples Center rocking and courtside regular Jack Nicholson smiling. The wins may be hard to come by next year, but I think that Randle can be that next great Laker big man.

The one area of concern with Julius Randle that I have is while he does a lot of things well, really well, there’s not one thing that he’s elite at… yet. I know that while he was in Lexington, he showed a lot of promise in the post, but he really became effective when head coach John Calipari moved him to the high post. Randle showed a nice jumpshot and that he could get to the rim and finish. The key to his NBA success will be how hard he works to become that powerfoward that can rebound at a high rate, finish at the rim amid contact and become a consistent enough shooter to keep the defense honest.

Randle will have what essentially is his rookie season to continue to work and improve on his game. After watching the way he matured and got better during his short time in Lexington, I’m not going to bet against him. Like the other 50 former Cats in the NBA (*numbers approximate), the BBN will be wishing him well. And those, like myself, that are Laker fans might just be wishing a little bit harder than others.