Two days into New Orleans training camp, the partnership between five-time All-Star Anthony Davis and Pelicans marquee free-agent addition Julius Randle hasn’t been seen together much on the court, with the duo in the early stages of building chemistry. Unfortunately, as Davis pointed out in joking fashion Wednesday, they also missed a recent opportunity to bond last weekend, when Davis was inducted into the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame. On the eve of his first Pelicans camp, Randle opted not to attend the Saturday ceremony at UK, which coincidentally is also where Randle played one season of college hoops.
“It sucked that the person to my left didn’t come and support me, but he was there in spirit,” Davis joked in sarcastic fashion, nodding toward Randle.
The former Wildcats may not have met up in Lexington for the festivities, but they’re certain to get very familiar with each other in 2018-19. Randle figures to log many of the center minutes played last season by DeMarcus Cousins, while forming a new tandem with Davis that could produce similar results.
“Both of them are playmakers,” New Orleans fourth-year head coach Alvin Gentry said Wednesday, when asked what makes him most excited to see the combination. “Julius is a really physical offensive player. He can pound the ball (on the dribble), he’s a good post-up player and he can make plays. Similar to the plays DeMarcus and AD made. We’re excited about the possibilities.”
Davis noted that early in camp he has been matched up against Randle more than with him, but that likely will change prior to Sunday’s preseason opener in Chicago.
“We’ve been on opposite teams, but from previous pickups in the summer, we’ve been talking about stuff we can do. I don’t want to give our secrets out, but we’ve been talking about how we can make each other better, pushing the ball up the floor, reading each other, where we like the ball in the post.”
The 6-foot-11 Davis and 6-9 Randle both listed reasons Wednesday why they’re looking forward to competing with each other, not the least of which might be because, as Randle put it, “I hated playing against (Davis).”
“I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve played with a player like AD,” Randle said. “We’ve got an MVP candidate on our team. For me, I feel like it makes my job a lot easier. I can just go out and do what I naturally do: Play hard. He takes so much pressure off us. We all know what he can do on both ends of the floor, and how he affects the game.”
“The stuff I saw him do with the Lakers has been awesome,” Davis said of Randle. “His ability to playmake and score in the post on anybody – whether it’s a big guy or small guy, he’s going to go through your chest and get a bucket or get to the (foul) line. His passing ability, and he can shoot the ball. It’s another guy who can do pretty much everything. When you have a guy like that, it’s hard not to be excited to play with a guy like that. I’m just excited to go out there and see how it flows in the game.”