NBA Draft 2014 Pick 7: Julius Randle, Los Angeles Lakers

Julius Randle was taken #7 overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He brings toughness and star power to one of the most prestigious franchises in the world. I like this pick for them, especially with the recent loss of Pau Gasol. This kid had a great run in the NCAA tournament and almost led his team to the championship. He is a leader and he will play well and adapt at the next level.

Standing at 6'9 and weighing in at 250 he is pretty undersized for a Power Forward but he does have quite an interesting skill set. When I think of Julius Randle I think of Paul Millsap. Both are undersized who play big and can rebound like it's their day job. In his one year at Kentucky he averaged 15 points and 10.4 rebounds. He brings toughness and defense to a Laker team that ranked at the bottom of almost every statistical category last season, they ranked 25th in rebounds per game. Randle will be able to put them towards the better half of the league and with the addition of Carlos Boozer we will see the Lakers grab a bunch of rebounds per game.

 The Laker defense was 2nd to last, last season so they will need a lot of help on that side of the court. Without a coach this team doesn't really have any philosophy as of yet. They will score points which shouldn't be a problem but they will vastly improve I feel on defense. Randle is tough and will plug up the lane. Watch the FG percentage go up too. He shot 50% last year and LA was actually in the middle in terms of FG %. Where I see Randle making the difference is on defense where the Lakers struggled all year. They won't have to rely on him to score right now with Kobe and Nick Young on the team and also with Boozer. I see him having a great season for a rookie. If he wants to be good he will have to work at it. 

He still needs to work on his defense being an undersized PF. Hopefully LA can bring in a defensive minded coach that can develop him because Calipari wins with offense and not defense. If he wants to be a star in this league he'll need to develop a decent jump shot for being smaller. He actually shot 70% from the free throw line which is pretty good. He has an interesting skill set and he seems to be fearless down low, however, he needs to get stronger and develop something other than an average post-game. I like the pick for LA. I hope he can be the one LA can pass the torch to once Kobe  retires (whenever that may be) but I feel he needs to work on a lot of things before he can be "the man" in LA.