Sometimes you just have to admit when you’re wrong. Back in May, I wrote an article about Shavlik Randolph’s decision to enter the NBA draft. I might have made a few jokes.
Well, it turns out that joke might be on me. The 76ers are in Durham for training camp and general manager Billy King says that Randolph is currently on the squad and “it’s his roster spot to lose.” Wow.
Now, that might be King blowing smoke to the local media. It might also be King showing loyalty to a fellow Dukie.
Or maybe Randolph has finally found himself. While I was rarely too impressed with his play in college, I was always impressed with his skill and potential. He can do things that few 6’11” players can. The problem is that he mostly did them in warmups. He’d show flashes here and there, but mostly he just seemed lost on the floor. If a basketball game were a series of drills, he’d be an All-American. If the NBA had an NFL-like combine, he might have been a lottery pick.
The problem with Randolph was never his skill. It was always his play. He just seemed to be reacting instead of acting. Like he was not sure what he should be doing and was afraid to screw up.
But, maybe he’s past that. Maybe he’s healthy and confident and aggressive again. I hope so. He seems like a really good kid who deserves better than to be forever thought of as a bust.
If he does make the NBA, it will be one of the most bizarre career paths I can recall. It’s not unusual for unheard of players to make the big leagues. Who knew of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman or Ben Wallace in college? In most of those cases though, the guy was a late bloomer who missed out on attending a top school because he just wasn’t that good in high school. He bloomed later while at a small school.
In Randolph’s case, it was just the opposite. He bloomed early, became a star in high school and then fizzled in college. It’s hard to think of another guy who followed that arc and then rose again to make the bigs. Off the top of my head, the closest I can think of is Damien Wilkins who is having a surprisingly productive NBA career after a college career that didn’t reflect his hype coming out of high school.
The NBA has expanded rosters by three spots this year (teams can have up to three inactive players on their roster), so Randolph’s chances are somewhat improved. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
BTW, I’ve found it interesting just how popular Randolph is. Since I wrote that article five months ago, “Shavlik Randolph” has been one of the most popular search terms to bring folks to my site. I’m not sure why he interests people so, but he does.