The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Julius Randle last year in the first round to be their next franchise star. However, an injury ended his year before it truly began. Randle returns in 2015 essentially as a rookie and it is showing. During NBA summer league play, the Lakers showed a lot of growing pains with the amount of youth they have on the roster which is an issue considering many of them are expected to play valuable minutes come the regular season.
Randle admits he was frustrated with the Las Vegas tournament. Despite having a year of the NBA under his belt, Randle has no real game time experience and showed a great deal of rust. According to the Los Angeles Times, coaches were not overly thrilled with the way the team played in the summer including Randle who saw limited action.
"He understands that it's a bigger picture than just the summer league," said Coach Byron Scott, via the LA Times. "This was to knock off some of the rust and get him back into playing basketball. We didn't want to play him 35 to 40 minutes a game, and then he takes a step back. I would rate that Julius had a very strong summer league. I thought Julius was great, but I think he was frustrated. I think the team was frustrated that, in the sense, right when he was catching his rhythm ... we'd take him out."
Randle is not guaranteed a starting role with the Lakers in 2015. Scott told the media that he is anxious to see what the young player will bring to the court, but the Lakers also signed Brandon Bass who could be the opening night starter over Randle. Bass was one of the free agents the Lakers targeted when they missed out on DeAndre Jordan, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge. He will be critical in the development of Randle who might be more suited for coming off the bench.
The Lakers might aim for a veteran like that at the point guard position as well. The team is dealing with young struggles of D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson who are the main true point guards on the roster. According to the Orange County Register, both players will be competing to start as they head to workout with Steve Nash before team practices begin. The Lakers were hoping to make a trade for Ty Lawson to help with the depth at the point guard spot, but Houston won that race. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the Nuggets have released Pablo Prigioni who was part of the Lawson trade and now he is available to sign elsewhere. The Lakers could easily target him or Jason Terry for help in 2015.
