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Julius Randle, Nets still developing chemistry amid slow start to season
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- Julius Randle, Nets still developing chemistry amid slow start to season
Julius Randle, Nets still developing chemistry amid slow start to season originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Brooklyn Nets made major moves in the offseason to bring in veterans to help their young players, but so far, the team hasn't found a groove.
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Julius Randle came over to Brooklyn from the Minnesota Timberwolves hoping to lead the offense in the same way he did with the New York Knicks six years ago. The veteran has always been able to put up points, but after years of competing in for playoff-caliber teams, he finds himself in a very different situation.
Since arriving in Brooklyn, Randle has expressed how happy he is to be back in the New York area, where his family resided for five seasons while he was with the Knicks. However, Randle now finds himself more as a veteran leader on a young team, which requires him to take on different responsibilities.
Here's how Randle and the Nets have reacted to their slow start so far.
Nets react to slow start to season
The Nets finally got their first win of the season on Sunday, defeating the Indiana Pacers 98-90 on the road. It snapped a five-game losing streak for Brooklyn to begin the season, which included a loss to the Pacers at the Barclays Center.
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Julius Randle was acquired to help raise the team's floor, but the slow start hasn't shown that Brooklyn is ready to compete yet. The veteran Randle understands that there are still a lot of areas in which the Nets need to improve in order to get where they want to go.
"We've got a lot to improve on," Randle said after the win on Sunday . "I'm happy for the group. We've been working real hard. We're sticking together in tough moments...But it's just a start — we know we can be a lot better. We need to continue to grow and build off what we did."
Randle and Michael Porter Jr. are the team's two best players, both averaging over 20 points per game so far this season. Therefore, it's crucial that the two develop chemistry, which hasn't been the case so far in 2026-27.
After the Nets' fourth loss of the season on Friday, Porter Jr. explained how he and Randle are still adjusting to each other's play.
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"There's definitely times out there that I'm going long stretches without touching the ball… But that's not the plan," he said. "When Julius gets the ball, he's a really good passer. So we need to make ourselves available and be able to play off of him better. Sometimes he's getting the iso and we're just staring at him… I've got to figure out how to stay more involved sometimes."
As the Nets are full of young players, these two veterans are both crucial for the Nets to develop as a team and threaten to make the playoffs in the Spring. Randle has experienced this before with the crosstown Knicks, while Porter Jr. is just in his second season as a team leader.
