Last Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers selected University of Kentucky power forward Julius Randle with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. The Lakers were extremely happy to have the opportunity to draft Randle with seventh overall pick considering that they had him higher on their draft board and did not expect him to be on the board when it was their turn to make a selection.
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Randle will be a part of the rebuilding effort in Los Angeles and in the Lakers future plans moving forward, but when free agency begins, the team will look to speed up that rebuilding process with the likes of potentially signing free agent forward Carmelo Anthony, and maybe Raptors’ restricted free agent point guard Kyle Lowry. But another free agent the Lakers will target is an old friend that many expect to be going somewhere else for the 2015 NBA season.
Lakers longtime power forward/center Pau Gasol will be meeting with other teams and listening to their pitches in attempt to bring him aboard their roster. Lakers’ general manager Mitch Kupchak has been open about potentially re-signing Pau Gasol to keep him in the purple and gold. If Gasol decides to re-sign with the Lakers, the potential Gasol and Randle tandem could be something we see in the 2015 season.
Our own Serena Winters reported that Kupchak told ESPN LA 710 Radio that Gasol and Randle could compliment each other well:
Kupchak said Pau Gasol and Julius Randle could potentially "complement each other." (On @ESPNLA710)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) June 30, 2014
It turns out that Kupchak is not the only one who thinks that the possible Gasol-Randle combination could be effective. Randle addressed the Los Angeles media on Monday, and spoke about possibly playing alongside Gasol:
Julius Randle believes he can “play alongside” Pau Gasol if the Spaniard re-signs with the Lakers. #Lakers
— Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner) June 30, 2014
Randle will likely see a lot of playing time in the 2015 season given that he is a big part of the Lakers’ plans moving forward. Whether it be with Gasol or not is yet to be determined, but it would be great to see the Spaniard teach Randle some moves in the post and of course, the true meaning of what it means to be a Laker and a true professional in the NBA.
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