Dec. 26--The wait continues for Lakers reserves Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell.
Maybe it will end soon. Maybe it won't.
When Coach Byron Scott took away their starting jobs, he pledged to keep it that way for 10 games before reevaluating. Friday marked the last of those games.
Scott hasn't revealed much in advance. He could put one, both or neither back in the starting lineup Sunday at Memphis, he said.
"I'll take a look at the numbers and see how they play compared to the first 20 games," Scott said this week. "Sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole story when you're looking at young guys. A lot of it is going to be how I feel they've come along the last 10 games or the last couple weeks."
Russell has had the better run recently, showing some scoring and passing ability, including 16 points in the Lakers' 94-84 loss against the Clippers on Friday.
Randle hasn't been as effective. He came into Friday's game shooting only 39% since the demotion, an unacceptable number for a power forward who rarely took three-point shots.
He was bothered by a sore ankle in recent days and had 11 points on three-for-11 accuracy against the Clippers.
Scott complimented each player. His actions over the next few days will be more important, however.
"I've had conversations with both those young men. They understand it's a process and it's going to take them some time," Scott said. "But the good thing about both of them -- they're willing to work and continue to work to get better."
Those meetings again
The Lakers already played against LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe. Friday brought the third and final big man who declined to sign with them last summer -- DeAndre Jordan.
Jordan was considered a longshot from the start, but the Lakers still pitched him on the importance of joining them.
"We just talked to him about what this organization has achieved. It's all about championships here," Scott said. "Basically, it [would have been] a fresh start for him ... with some young talent. Kind of help them guys develop and hopefully when we get a couple other guys to go along with him, that we would have been a team that could definitely vie for a championship."
Jordan chose the Clippers after initially saying he would sign with Dallas.
The Lakers were never really in the running for his immense rebounding and shot-blocking skill set. It marked another off-season without a big-name free agent for them.
They planned to make next year's free-agent meetings more basketball intensive, with less emphasis on endorsement and business opportunities in Los Angeles, Scott said.
Aldridge in particular wanted more basketball talk in his initial sit-down with the team in July. A follow-up meeting that focused on basketball analytics couldn't prevent the four-time All-Star from signing with San Antonio.
"It was an experience and an education, some of the things that we did," Scott said. "I guess this summer we'll sit down and talk about our approach as far as the guys that we'll target this year. But that's seven, eight months away."
