Lakers rumors: Julius Randle asked team to renounce his rights

The Los Angeles Lakers were reportedly asked by Julius Randle to renounce his rights to pave the way to sign with the New Orleans Pelicans.

On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers officially renounced the rights to forward Julius Randle, therefore, making him an unrestricted free agent. It didn't take long for the Kentucky product to find a new team as he has reportedly agreed to terms with the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year deal.

Apparently, Randle wasn't crazy about the idea of his role with the Lakers changing after all the moves they made in NBA free agency thus far. This prompted the former first-round pick to ask the team to renounce his rights, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

According to multiple sources Julius Randle asked to be renounced by the the Lakers once it became clear his role could dramatically change this season and the team wasn’t interested in making a longer term commitment to him.

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 2, 2018

Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis appears to have played a vital role in getting Randle to New Orleans. The fellow Wildcat alum did his best to get Randle to play alongside him, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Anthony Davis' tenacious recruiting helped close the deal on Randle, league source tells ESPN. https://t.co/8BzHoVYnT5

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2018

Randle is coming off a breakout year with the Lakers in which he went from a disgruntled player benched by head coach Luke Walton to starter and arguably the team's most valuable player during the 2017-18 campaign. The 23-year-old put up some solid numbers in limited minutes.

In 82 games played, which is a career-best, Randle averaged 16.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. The fourth-year forward also shot a career-high 55.8 percent from the field while making an impression around the league as finally becoming a consistent force to be reckoned with on the offense.

With Randle now headed for New Orleans, the Lakers may look to DeMarcus Cousins to help fill that void in the frontcourt. Los Angeles is one of the few teams that have expressed in the veteran center who's coming off an Achilles he suffered last season with the Pelicans. The Lakers also agreed to terms with Rajon Rondo on Monday who is a close friend and former teammate of Cousins from his time with the Sacramento Kings and during the one season in New Orleans.