Julius Randle is assured a top ten overall placement in tonight’s NBA Draft, and he may even be a top five pick. Randle was by far the most NBA ready of Kentucky’s neo-Fab 5 freshmen. So we’ll take a look at where Randle might end up
Since John Calipari has a de facto NBA Developmental League team, with the McDonald’s All-American game being the de facto D-League to Kentucky’s program there’s been a whole lot of discussion on this issue already. Throw in the fact that Coach Cal and Kentucky basketball are rather polarizing by nature, and this talking point receives even more coverage. Randle and Coach Cal remind me of SPACEBALLS– sometimes you have to root for the bad guys. Sometimes the villains are more likeable.
Yet on Final Four weekend, Randle gave an answer to a reporter that adds more food for though in the one and done debate.
Julius Randle on if he had the option to go pro after high school, would be have chosen that instead of college:
“I really don’t know. I am certainly happy that I chose to go to college. I probably still would have chosen to go to college. It is what I needed as far as maturity level. A lot of people think they are ready, but in actuality, you are really not. I am really happy that I chose to go to college and first off, get that experience of being away from home. This year has been wonderful for me as far as maturity level and kind of growing me into a young man. I am extremely happy, whether they had the rule or not, that I chose to come to college.”
Here’s where we have Randle in our latest NBA mock draft
7. L.A. Lakers- Julius Randle, PF, Kentucky, 6-9, Fr.
There has been some recent speculation that teams are souring on Julius Randle because of an old foot injury. The Lakers roster is wide open with needs all over and they could use a physical and athletic post player like Randle. There is also a very good chance L.A. ends up trading this pick for a veteran.
Go here for more on Julius Randle
Anyways, ESPN analysts Fran Frischilla, Jay Bilas and Tom Penn joined the media on conference call yesterday, and a reporters brought up Julius Randle at least three times on each call. I’m not joking. Apparently, some reporters have a VERY DISTURBING man-crush on Julius Randle. Nothing else can explain this extreme obsession that a few people in the media have with him. I guess they just fetishize him; or Kentucky in general.
I’m not going to copy and paste the transcription of everything that was said about Julius Randle, because of course, this would end up being like 13,000 words long. Neither you, nor I want that. So here’s some of the highlights.
Fraschilla: “there’s one thing about Julius that’s definitely going to translate to the NBA. Well, not one, but a package of a few things wrapped into one. And that’s going to be his intensity level and his body, in terms of being able to be a man from day one.
I could pick Julius apart in a number of ways skill-wise, but those are all things that are going to be addressed by his NBA team. I will say this. It’s very rare that you see Julius Randle take a night off, and I think it’s going to serve him well in the league. He’s been knocked down a few pegs on these mock drafts, and I do think that, while I thought he was overrated coming into college – and only slightly, by the way – I think he’s underrated coming into the league.
Yes, he has trouble with length at times. We saw that against LSU and Baylor.”
Bilas: “You’re going to get a big time rebounder that can take people out around the goal. I think left handed, the most physically imposing big guy around the bucket in the Draft.
He and Jarnell Stokes are probably the two best rebounders. I would put Noah Vonleh up there as well, as far as guys that are volume rebounders and really go after the ball, especially on the offensive end. He’s a really good offensive rebounder.
He’s not a shooter, though. Steps away to 15, 18 feet, and he’s not reliable. He got to the point where I don’t even remember him taking a jump shot in the NCAA Tournament. If he did, I don’t remember it. So he kind of shortened up his offensive menu there and started just kind of taking the ball to the basket and working off the post and around the glass.”
Penn: “Players like him tend to excel in the NBA game, in the wide open, more possession, more minutes. And it really depends on where he gets drafted as to how much he’d be relied on now versus later. If he goes to a crummy team, he’ll get minutes. If he goes to a good team, he can develop in the system.”
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk shows across the world. Banks has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, Washington Times, NBC and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)