Julius Randle projects in the NBA as a power forward, but the Los Angeles Lakers have been impressed with his ability to defend threes and handle the ball.

"He's got super quick feet and I think if there's one thing you didn't see much at Kentucky, as you do watching him every day, is that he's got really gifted quickness, first step, [and] he loves contact," Mitch Kupchak said.

"He can defend small forwards. Do I see him right now as the prototypical small forward?  Probably not," Kupchak said.  "But I could see him bringing the ball up the court.  I could see him seeing a gap, getting a step on a guy and making a play -- whether it's finishing or finding somebody that's open.  Those are ball-handling skills that you wouldn't see power forwards have very often."

Still, Kupchak tried to temper expectations for the rookie.

"Julius is still 19 years old," Kupchak said. "You wouldn’t know that by looking at him, because he’s really a well-developed, big, strong, athletic kid. Over the years, I've never looked at a rookie and said, 'Hey, this guy's gonna bring us to the top.'  It doesn't do any good to have high expectations."