Despite not reaching the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year, the Los Angeles Lakers’ young core impressed during the 2017-18 NBA season. That especially holds true for a pair of forwards in Julius Randle and Kyle Kuzma.
For Randle, he enjoyed a breakout season that saw him set career highs in points per game (16.1) and field goal percentage (.558). He additionally averaged eight rebounds while appearing in all 82 games for the first time in his career.
Randle is now set to become a restricted free agent later this summer and eyes a potential max contract. Before any of that unfolds, the 23-year-old returned to the court for offseason workouts, via Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders:
A little more Julius Randle pic.twitter.com/3qDoCSrLxZ
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) May 18, 2018
Oops… Julius Randle. pic.twitter.com/78huEvs9ZC
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) May 18, 2018
While a reunion between Randle and the Lakers remains a possibility, the two parties have reportedly yet to engage in serious contract discussions.
The Lakers’ rebuilding process also received an unexpected boost in the form of Kuzma, who solidified himself as one of the better steals in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. He, too is going through offseason workouts, which the Lakers shared on Twitter:
Only one way to get better #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/gbSHh2vVzc
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 18, 2018
In 77 games (37 starts), Kuzma posted solid averages of 16.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. He also knocked down over 36 percent of his shots from behind the arc while logging over 31 minutes per game.
