The Lakers drafted Julius Randle with the No. 7 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but never truly embraced him as their franchise star. In his four seasons with the Lakers, Randle never averaged more than 30 minutes or took more than 11.0 shots per game.
His career skyrocketed thereafter as Randle made three All-Star teams and two All-NBA Teams as part of the Knicks, besides winning the 2021 Most Improved Player of the Year award.
According to Lonzo Ball, who was a rookie during Randle’s last season in 2017-18, the Lakers were “disrespectful” of the southpaw before letting him walk as a free agent.
“One of the craziest things I’ve ever heard in my life, when I was on that team [Lakers],” Ball recalled on his “What an Experience with Lonzo Ball” podcast.
“They sat us all down early in the season in the locker room, went through everybody’s roles, and sh–. When they got to Julius, they were talking about just rebound and set screens, like nothing else. I’m like ‘What the [expletive]'”
Lonzo Ball says Lakers disrespected Julius Randle:
“They sat us down, went through roles… got to Julius, they like ‘just rebound and set screens, nothing else.’ I’m like nah… I lowkey spoke up. He one of our best players.. we got cool after that. Now look at what hes doing.” pic.twitter.com/diuoHemZMv— Lakers Better (@LakersBetter) May 26, 2025
Lonzo Ball says Lakers disrespected Julius Randle:
“They sat us down, went through roles… got to Julius, they like ‘just rebound and set screens, nothing else.’ I’m like nah… I lowkey spoke up. He one of our best players.. we got cool after that. Now look at what hes doing.”
Lonzo Spoke Up For Julius
Ball, a pass-first point guard, was admittedly worried about the Lakers’ coaching staff not utilizing Ball to the best of his abilities. The rookie spoke up and made the case for the Lakers to use Randle in more offensive sets.
He continued, “So, then I’m like, ‘Nah.’ I low-key spoke up. I’m talking about ‘Nah, like, he one of our best players, he’s the only [expletive] that can do everything, like, what the [expletive]?’ And then after that sh–, that’s when we got cool after that. But nah, they were disrespecting him crazy in L.A., bro, and now look what he’s doing now. So I’m definitely uh happy to see him doing his thing.”
Randle ultimately signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the Pelicans, where he averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in his only season. A year later, he opted out of his contract and signed a three-year, $63 million deal with the Knicks.
Julius Randle Thriving in Minnesota
Much like the Knicks, the Timberwolves have been validated for placing their faith in Randle, whom they acquired in a blockbuster trade for Karl-Anthony Towns in 2024.
In his first season in Minnesota, Randle averaged 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists from 69 regular-season games. He upped his production significantly in the playoffs, averaging 21.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists from 14 games.
Thanks largely to Randle’s performances — on both ends of the floor — the Timberwolves knocked off the Lakers and Warriors in the first two rounds before setting up a Western Conference Finals clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In the crucial Game 3, Randle produced 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists to guide his team to a 143-101 blowout victory, the second largest victory in franchise history.
Randle owns a player option worth $30M for the 2025-26 season.
