Brooklyn Nets: 5 free agents from 2nd tier to watch

Randle a young big on the rise

It was easy to miss with all the Anthony Davis-related buzz coming out of the New Orleans Pelicans organization, but big man Julius Randle had himself a whale of a season in the Big Easy.

Randle is a former lottery pick of the Los Angeles Lakers who was allowed to walk away last summer after LeBron James landed in L.A. and he made the most of a one-year deal in New Orleans.

Randle averaged 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists while shooting 52.4 percent overall and adding at least a hint of a stretch element to his game by knocking down 34.4 percent on 2.7 3-point attempts per game.

He entered last season a career 25.7 percent shooter from long range on a little more than one attempt every other game.

Randle is a load at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds and can play either a small ball 5 or a traditional 4 with some ability to stretch the floor.

He’s also got youth on his side — Randle won’t be 25 until after Thanksgiving this year and could be a very nice fit to add some bulk and rebounding to a Brooklyn Nets team that was short on both.

One caveat with Randle is that he’s not likely to get a 27.8 percent usage rate with the Nets, but he is a decent defender and an emerging offensive talent that can hurt opponents in a variety of ways at that end of the floor.