Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of SI.com’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
Just when you thought praise for Julius Randle couldn’t get any loftier, that the runaway leader for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award couldn’t win over any more supporters, enter Charles Oakley. “I think [Randle],” Oakley told SiriusXM Radio this week, “is a better version of Zion Williamson.