Lakers power forward Julius Randle was displaced from his starting role by Larry Nance Jr. heading into the season, and continued to come off the bench while Nance has been sidelined, with Kyle Kuzma moving into the starting lineup. However, Randle has been making a case for a larger role with his play as of late, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register.
In his last nine games, Randle has averaged 13.4 PPG and 8.2 RPG in just 25.0 minutes per contest. He’s also playing well next to starting center Brook Lopez, a pairing the Lakers weren’t necessarily bullish on entering the 2017/18 campaign.
“It works well with Brook because Brook spaces the floor so he kind of turns into the space ‘four,'” Lakers head coach Luke Walton said. “And Julius can still do all that dynamic rolling hat he does and switch defensively. We’ll keep fooling with that. … They’ve been playing well together, but I also think Julius is playing at a much higher level than he was back then (in training camp), too. There’s a lot of factors that go into it, but they look good together.”
As Randle – who is on a contract year – makes a push for more minutes, let’s round up a few more items from around the Pacific…
- Greg Monroe has been impressive since making his debut for the Suns earlier this month, as Cody Cunningham of Suns.com details. It’s a small sample, but the veteran center’s per-36 numbers (21.7 points; 12.4 rebounds) and FG% (.619) with Phoenix are the best marks of his career. Monroe’s play could boost his trade value a little, with the Suns potentially looking to move him in the coming weeks or months.
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Kevin Pelton takes a closer look at the slumping Clippers, exploring whether it makes sense for the team to trade some potential 2018 free agents before the deadline if their struggles continue. DeAndre Jordan, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Willie Reed are among L.A.’s free-agents-to-be.
- Kings rookie De’Aaron Fox will have dates against the Suns, Lakers, Celtics, and Sixers circled on his calendar for the foreseeable future, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Those are the four clubs that passed on Fox in the 2017 draft, and the young point guard wants to show them what they missed out on. “I’m happy with my situation, but at the end of the day those teams had the chance and opportunity to draft me,” Fox said.