The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night to end their six game losing streak and pick up just their fourth win of the season. This Lakers team isn't very good but they do have a few promising young players that could potentially be a big part of the future for them. Right now two of those young players, Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell, are coming off the bench and Randle isn't all that happy about his new role, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Randle started the first 20 games of the season for the Lakers but in the last five he has come off the bench much to the dismay of the fans. When asked what he thought about moving to the bench Randle simply responded by saying "it is what it is" but reports state that he is not pleased with head coach Byron Scott's decision.
In his first few games off the bench Randle has been up and down as he has had big games including a 14 point and 14 rebound effort on Tuesday night against the Bucks but he also has had bad games including going 5-20 from the field over a two game stretch. It could be argued that Randle has been the Lakers' best and most consistent player this season as he is averaging 11.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game which makes it understandable that both he and the fans were not happy about his demotion.
It's not just the fact that Scott has moved Randle to the bench that has frustrated him but also the fact that he is only playing about 20-25 minutes per game. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has defended this decision by saying that Randle needs to work on his defense and until that shows improvement this is the way it will be, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times.
The metrics show that Randle has actually not been all that bad one defense as he has been about average so far this season on that end. Randle is a great talent that is proving to be a difference maker in the NBA as he is putting up some big numbers in limited minutes so it is fair to wonder when he might start playing more minutes and why his minutes were ever decreased in the first place.
