Julius Randle has been rapidly building his case for staying in the City of Angels, after being a sure-fire goner due to the Los Angeles Lakers grand plans during this 2018 free agency period.
The 23-year-old could make an additional fortune than his soon-to-be next contract if he had a penny for every time he's heard rumors of LeBron James or Paul George coming to the Lakers next season.
“Oh, man, it came to a certain point where I was just numb to it,” Randle said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.
But that narrative could soon change thanks to the slew of eye-popping performances he's put up during the past few months since getting back his starting spot at power forward.
Yet the Dallas native is hoping he could be a part of this superteam in the making, despite being a large component of whether the team can free up $70 million to reel in the likes of James and George at a premium.
“It would definitely be interesting because we are building something. We really see our young core developing, so it would definitely be something interesting,” said Randle. “I played with [Kobe Bryant]… What you learn from Bean as far as mentality and just the little things, his work ethic, I would love to play with Bron and learn the same things.”
Randle is coming off a 26-point, 13-rebound outing against the Denver Nuggets, yet before that he was giving the Cleveland Cavaliers headaches with 36 points and 14 rebounds, sitting three assists shy of a monster triple-double.
“[Learning and soaking in] what makes him so great, what does he do that makes him so great and how does he make everybody else so great,” said Randle of playing alongside James. “He has made a living off of making teammates better. So you have a guy like that, it makes a lot of things easier, I would say.”
The 6-foot-9 power forward has taken a grip on his season, averaging 15.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, recently bumping his numbers to the tune of 23.3 points and 9.3 rebounds during March, shooting a blistering 60 percent from the field.
“Everybody's had a hard time with him as of late,” James said after taking a 127-113 loss to the Lakers.
Randle has put in the work after each offseason, but has never bloomed as noticeably as he has this season, persevering through the early-season adversity and eventually earning back his rightful spot in the lineup, one that he is sure to have whether it is with the Lakers or a different team clamoring for his services.
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