Julius Randle Declines Player Option, Enters Free Agency

New Orleans Pelicans power forward Julius Randle will imminently join NBA free agency after declining his player option.

Reports say that his 2019 – 2020 option with New Orleans was worth $9 million. It’s part of the $18 million deal Julius Randle signed with them last summer. Julius Randle had previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers since 2014.

It’s a somewhat surprising move, considering Randle seemed happy to be in New Orleans as recently as September.

“If you ask every [NBA] player if they had their dream scenario, their dream scenario is everyone just wants to be wanted,” Randle told The Undefeated.

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“For me talking to New Orleans, they wanted me. I was a part of their future.”

Randle was the 7th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. In four years with the Lakers, he averaged 16.1 points per game. In his one Peliocans season, he recorded a career high 21.4 points per game.

As well as that, he posted 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He finished the season strongly, averaging 24.6 points and 7.6 rebounds after the All-Star game.

Shams Charania of the Athletic Tweeted:

Pelicans‘ Julius Randle is not picking up his $9M player option for next season and will enter unrestricted free agency, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Randle is coming off his best NBA season (21.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 34.4 percent from 3-point range on 195 attempts).

Read: Pelicans Finally Trade Anthony Davis to Lakers

Randle was able to succeed last year due to the Anthony Davis drama. After David publicly requested a trade, his minutes were reduced. Randle was one of the beneficiaries of this. Last year was his first season topping 20 points per game.