A Lakers player pointed out Julius Randle's shortcomings at the season opener

The NBA season is finally here. Minnesota Timberwolves fans have been eagerly waiting to see their new-look team in action during the regular season, and they got that chance on Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the good guys, the game didn't go quite as planned.

Minnesota lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 110-103. Of course, this is far from panic territory, as the Timberwolves lost their season opener last year and even fell to 1-2 in three games in the 2023-24 season. The more concerning part of Tuesday night's result, however, was Julius Randle's play.

Randle replaced Karl-Anthony Towns as Minnesota's new starting power forward and tried to play in a meaningful game with his new teammates for the first time. His box score numbers look decent at first glance, but he really comes up short on the eye test. Julius regularly made mistakes and seemed lethargic in Wolves' first game of the season.

It's far from the time to panic, but we can safely say that Tuesday night wasn't much encouragement. The Timberwolves fan base obviously took note that Randle was a liability at times, but so did some of the players on the court. Lakers winger Rui Hachimura was vocal about his competition after the competition ended.

“We talked about Julius Randle, sometimes he just stands there and stuff,” Hachimura said. “So we talked about how we could use that somehow. I know I can be the screener. I can be in the corner attacking the rim.” It's far from surprising that the Lakers' players have picked up on Randle's tendencies. They are professionals who are the best at what they do, so of course, more than once, they took note of a man who seemed lost.

But the more shocking thing is that Hachimura would say something like that out loud. The Lakers must have really believed that Randle was annoyed that they were praising his play so much. Ideally, this situation is a kind of wake-up call for Julius.

Being criticized by the competition for your performance in the first game isn't a good look. We can also assume that Randle is undergoing shoulder surgery and hasn't played in an NBA game since January. These things likely led to his lackluster performance in his Timberwolves debut.

Either way, an effort like this should light Julius Randle on fire. Timberwolves fans can expect him to bounce back in a big way on Thursday against the Kings.