After the Minnesota Timberwolves downed the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, fans couldn't help but wonder what could have been with Julius Randle.
The three-time All-Star was drafted by L.A. with the No. 7 overall pick back in 2014, but played just 14 minutes of his rookie season before breaking his tibia and missing the remainder of the year. He would spend three more seasons in L.A. before having his rights renounced by the Lakers and finding a home with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018.
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During Randle's final season in Los Angeles, the 2017-18 campaign, he was joined by the Lakers' No. 2 overall pick from the 2017 Draft, point guard Lonzo Ball.
Randle was on his way to averaging the most points in his career at that point, 16.1, but saw a slight drop in his rebounds average from 8.6 to eventually 8 per game. Ball spoke on how the Lakers appeared to disrespect a major facet of the power forward's game.
"They sat us all down early in the season in the locker room, went through everybody’s roles and sh*t. They got to [Julius Randle]. They talking about ‘just rebound and set screens, nothing else’. I’m like, ‘What the [expletive]?’ So then I’m like, ‘Nah,' I low key spoke up," Ball said on the What An Experience Podcast. "I’m talking about 'nah'. Like he one of our best players... And then after that [expletive], that’s when we got cool after that. But nah, they was disrespecting him crazy in LA, bro. And now look what he doing now.”
Randle would see another increase in his points average the next season in New Orleans, upping it to 21.4, and later spent five seasons with the New York Knicks, putting up 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game during his tenure.
After being traded to the Timberwolves, Randle continued his prowess as they not only defeated the Lakers, but are now in the Western Conference Finals and four wins away from a Finals berth. Randle is in the middle of averaging 23.9 points per game on 51 percent shooting in the playoffs.
