John Gambadoro: Julius Randle likes Phoenix. How would he fit?

On Thursday May 30, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 said that he has heard that ulius Randle has interest in the Phoenix Suns. He would be a very good addition and reminds me very similarly of two Suns from the past.

Ask yourself this question: when was the last time that a good  player in the NBA (who isn’t currently on the roster) said that they had interest in playing for the Phoenix Suns?

Yes, Phoenix has cap space so anyone with the ability to sign a larger contract would be stupid to not at least keep the Suns as an option so they can get paid, but still!

When Gambo said that Julius Randle had interest, I have to believe that Phoenix has mutual interest – and hope  that they do. (At publication, the Burns and Gambo first hour of May 30, has not yet been uploaded, however, here is the link to their podcasts for the day and the conversation was in hour one when that is published).

Randle is a really good player (he averaged 21.4 point and 8.7 rebounds per game last season and has averaged a double-double in his career), he is only 24-years-old, he developed an outside game last season out of nowhere, shooting 34.4% from 3, and he would perfectly fill one of the two gaping holes in the starting lineup at power forward.

As a Suns fan, I desperately want to see them succeed as quickly as possible and the signing of Randle this summer would be the biggest free agency addition the team has made since Isaiah Thomas in 2014. 

Phoenix Suns

Randle makes the Phoenix Suns a better team right away too.

Consider the circumstances last season in which Igor Kokoskov played a small forward out of position, or Dragan Bender was getting minutes.

Exctingly, the addition of a potential 20/10 guy actually gives the Suns depth in the frontcourt with Deandre Ayton that they have not had since Shaquille O’Neal and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Statistical expectations from Randle should be somewhat tempered, however.

While he averaged 20 points last season with New Orleans, playing beside Ayton and with Devin Booker on the court, I do not believe that he would ever average 20 points again while a Sun. In fact, if I were Monty Williams, I would offer him the offensive expectation of 15 points per game including five 3-point attempts (presuming that last season’s average was not a fluke – I would not want him jacking up 3’s just for the sake of shooting), but with the goal of averaging a double-double again by ensnaring above 10 rebounds per outing.

Immediately when thinking of Randle on the Suns, my mind tracks back in time to two totally different players, but difference makers none-the-less:

Clifford Robinson and A.C. Green.

Offensively I see more of Uncle Cliffy in Randle when specifically considering that Robinson was a prolific outside shooter by the time he came to the Suns. He averaged over 20 points per game three times with Portland and with Phoenix his scoring average peaked at 18.5 (which would be a great scoring average from Randle if consistent), but stayed at 14-16 his other three seasons.

This was generally the case of him not being the primary scorer any of those years as he paired up with Jason Kidd, Anfernee Hardaway, Tom Gugliotta, Shawn Marion, Danny Manning, Rex Chapman, and others in his four seasons.

As mentioned before, Randle pairing up with Book and Ayton will limit his peak scoring, and we have to hope too that Kelly Oubre will be returning who too will average around 14-15 points per game as he did last season (although I could see him peaking at around 17 points if the offense ended up flowing through him more than expected).

The big difference between Randle and Robinson is rebounding though, as Cliff never really averaged above 6 boards a game and as generally a small forward was ever quite required too.

A.C. Green, on the other hand, averaged between 7.9 and 9.2 per game in three of his four seasons, and in particular, his first season with Phoenix (1993-94) had arguably his best statistical season of his career with 14.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game – which would be a great consistent average for Randle so long as 3-point shots were an integral part of his game.

So again, statistical expectations, in my opinion, would have to be tempered to some degree as while he is probably going to garner a very large contract (I do not expect a max, although I would presume somewhere at about $20 million per year on average), he is not necessarily going to put up numbers that one might expect (or wish) a $20 million dollar a year player would put up.

15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 3-point attempts, and a 34.0%-ish 3-point shooting percentage though would be a huge benefit to the team both offensively and defensively, giving the next point guard another outside shooter to dish out to, and as a stretch-four he would continue to control the paint without a second offensive player clogging the lane.

In rebounds, Ayton would then have a solid rebounder to pair up with, which then hopefully would lead to more fastbreak opportunities than the Suns had the benefit of last season.

Could Booker, Ayton, and Randle each at or over 20 points per game in a season, with a player of Oubre’s offensive ability averaging 15 points per game?

I would say, that if the point guard was not scoring-heavy himself and the offensive pace was high, then yes, it is definitely (and excitedly) possible – although it has never happened in Phoenix Suns history. In the late ‘70s, Paul Westphal and Walter Davis each averaged over 20 points per game together on two occasions, but never had a third do the same.

Even in the fast-paced Steve Nash days, while at their peak seven players averaged double-digits per game, never once did even two players average over 20 in the same season.