Heading into the 2017-18 NBA season, it appeared Julius Randle’s time with the Los Angeles Lakers was going to end via trade or free agency.
With the front office focusing on clearing enough salary cap space for two max-contract players, presumed to be LeBron James and Paul George, it figured to be difficult to re-sign Randle unless they somehow traded Luol Deng.
As Randle came off the bench to begin his fourth season, he was able to dominate backup centers. When head coach Luke Walton finally gave the 23-year-old an opportunity to start again, the Lakers played their best basketball of the season.