Mitch Kupchak: "It looks like Julius Randle has recovered completely"

Mitch Kupchak told Rick Fox and Jared Greenberg of Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius XM Sunday morning that "it looks like Julius Randle has recovered completely." The rookie power forward and seventh overall pick for the Lakers in the 2014 NBA draft played just 13 minutes and 36 seconds in his regular season debut before breaking his leg. While he was out, the team and Randle decided to replace the screw in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot.

A full recovery from Randle would be a boon to the Lakers' rebuilding efforts, but nevertheless, Kupchak also told Bleacher Report radio "we don't have .... the time to methodically and slowly build through the draft." This statement from Kupchak is somewhat contradictory to when he told Mike Trudell of Lakers.com in February that the Lakers "can't jeopardize the next 5-7 years just to win during the final year of Kobe's contract by bringing in veterans."

However, there is a middle ground between trying to rebuild in one year and waiting five to seven, and from his public comments it would now appear Kupchak is targeting somewhere in that range. With the second overall pick in hand to add to the young twosome of Randle and Jordan Clarkson, Kupchak would be able to target some veteran free agents without it coming at the expense of having youth with upside on the roster.