Though Julius Randle has always been a serviceable member of this rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers team, his future has seemed anything but secure at times. Even with Randle being a young prospect boasting a ton of potential, trade rumors and talks about his looming free agency were rampant.
Now with Randle slated to hit restricted free agency in mere months and his role expanding, the Kentucky product has pieced together one of the best stretches of his career. With an eye towards the future and knowing a big payday is in line, Randle says it’d be hard to leave the only team he’s ever known. Following from ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk:
“It would be tough to say no to L.A., honestly,” Randle said with a chuckle when asked how much he wants to remain a Laker. “It is the place that drafted me. I would love to be here. I have to do what is best for the family and hopefully they want me here as well.”
“I knew I had a place in this league,” Randle adds of his play this season. “Whether it was here or not.”
Now penciled in as the Lakers starting power forward, Julius Randle has responded and posted monster numbers in recent weeks. Randle’s uptick in production has correlated directly to wins, as this young Lakers team has come out victorious in 16 of their last 24 outings.
With the attention again surrounding a possible LeBron James free-agency pursuit that would almost surely be at his expense, Randle has had to tune out a lot of noise throughout this past year.
It remains to be seen whether the Lakers retain Randle as a key building block for their future or let the promising 23 year old forward walk this summer.
