This year’s NBA draft is full of a number of players who could be future stars at the next level. Guys like Jabari Parker, Dante Exum, and Andrew Wiggins are all very highly touted prospects.
The latest big name to declare for the draft was Kentucky power forward Julius Randle who helped lead the Wildcats to the National Championship game this year.
Randle appeared on The Dan Patrick Show this morning, and despite growing up in Dallas, his favorite player as a child was a certain popular Laker:
“Kobe Bryant for sure. Growing up I was a huge Kobe Bryant fan.”
Randle is currently projected to be selected in the top six of the draft, and as it stands, the Lakers would be in that group right now making Randle a strong possibility for the Lakers.
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The Lakers will almost definitely be in need of frontcourt help as there are huge questions surrounding the possible returns of Chris Kaman, Jordan Hill, and Pau Gasol, all of whom are free agents.
Randle is aware that he could end up in Los Angeles, and also told Dan Patrick that he wouldn’t mind becoming a Laker and could learn a lot from Bryant himself:
“Playing with him (Bryant) would be amazing as well, I could learn a lot from him […] I’ve always been a Laker fan and it would be a tremendous honor to play there.”
Randle, a traditional power forward with a strong, NBA-ready body, could give the Lakers a scoring option down low which will be needed, especially if Gasol leaves in free agency.
With many believing that Kobe Bryant will not be able to return to his previous form, the Lakers could use someone like Randle to get the Lakers back to their championship form.
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