We don’t yet know what Julius Randle is going to be in the NBA. We don’t know if he’ll eventually be able to play on the wing for extended stretches, will be a full-time power forward, or if those designations will even apply to him at all. There have been hints of how the Lakers want to use him, and how Kobe Bryant thinks he’ll fit with the team. Still, the truth is, we simply don’t know what the future holds for the No. 7 pick of the 2014 draft.
But maybe the Lakers’ preseason game against the Golden State Warriors gave us a bit of a hint, not necessarily of Randle’s style, but his confidence. It takes a lot chutzpah to say anything to Draymond Green, both a notorious talker and one of the best defenders in the NBA, let alone an incendiary dig like “he can’t guard me.” Fortunately for Randle, he at least barked at Golden State’s premier defender indirectly.
Still, Green’s not likely to forget such a claim, and Randle probably doesn’t want him to, either. And fortunately for all of us, we’ll get to see this pair of modern, trash-talking big men go head-to-head on many, many occasions in the foreseeable future.
