JULIUS Randle

Last season with Minnesota, Randle played 79 games, averaging 33.0 minutes, 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.2 blocks, with 2.7 turnovers a night. He shot 48.1 percent from the field, 31.5 percent from three and 80.2 percent from the line, with a true shooting mark of 58.5 percent. His usage rate sat at 25.8, and his plus-minus was a positive 2.9. That is a full, every-night workload: a high-usage scorer who also rebounds and sets up teammates, not just a bucket-getter. Brooklyn now inherits that exact profile as it builds its offense around him this season.

Through his first four games in a Nets uniform, Randle has shown up in the box score every night. On October 6 against Charlotte, a win, he had 13 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in 18.2 minutes. On October 8 against Philadelphia, another win, he posted 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 21.6 minutes. On October 12 against Washington, also a win, he had 14 points, 4 rebounds and a team-high 9 assists in 23.5 minutes. The run ended October 14 against Miami, a loss, with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 27.8 minutes. That is three wins in his first four games as a Net.

Randle's last season closed with a playoff series against San Antonio. He went for 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists in 41.5 minutes in a May 4 win, then 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in a May 10 win. In between and after, the series tilted the other way: a 12-point, 5-rebound night in a May 6 loss, a 12-point, 6-rebound night in a May 8 loss, a 17-point, 10-rebound night in a May 12 loss, and a quiet 3-point, 7-rebound finish in a May 15 loss. Across those six games, his minutes ranged as high as 41.5 and as low as 23.7.

Randle is not on the injury report. There is no injury history listed for him entering this season. For a 31-year-old playing his 12th season and logging 33.0 minutes a night as recently as last season, staying off the injury report to start the year is a clean sign for a Nets team that needs him available every night in the frontcourt. Nothing in his recent game log points to him being on a minutes restriction either — his playing time in the four games so far has ranged from 18.2 to 27.8 minutes, in line with a team still settling its rotation early in the schedule.

On September 13, Randle said Brooklyn will exceed expectations this season, a prediction reported by Andrew Crane. It is the kind of statement a new addition makes when he wants to set a tone early in his first year with a franchise. Randle also turned up in an October 13 Nets notes roundup alongside other names in the organization, a sign he is already a regular subject of the team's day-to-day coverage. None of this amounts to a trade rumor or a roster move — it is a veteran talking up his new team's ceiling while the beat keeps tabs on him.