Julius Randle Showing All-Star Quality

Twenty-one years young and only one game removed from being a rookie, Julius Randle of the Los Angeles Lakers is going through a public maturation in his first true year in the NBA. Randle has seven double-doubles in his last 10 games and is averaging 14.2 points and 12.2 rebounds in 31.1 minutes over that stretch. Needless to say, Randle's growth has impressed, and his future would almost certainly include invitations to the All-Star game, provided the Lakers can return to being a winning team before Randle retires.

In his last outing, the former Kentucky Wildcat scored 15 points and grabbed 19 rebounds. On the glass, Randle bumps and bruises with the best power forwards in the NBA. Against the Spurs two nights earlier, the second-year pulled down 16 rebounds to go with 15 points. His combination of strength and quickness looks good on the fast break, but it looks great when he's fighting for a rebound or following up his own miss.

Earlier in the season, Randle seemingly struggled to slow down and gain enough control and composure to knock down his jump shot with any consistency. That adjustment period led to a great deal of criticism and even discussions about reconstructing his shot over the summer. For the month of December, Randle shot below 40 percent from the field.

Over his past 10 games, though, Randle is shooting virtually 50 percent from the field, 49.1 percent. Also, he's hit two of the five three pointers over his last 10 outings. Seemingly, the power forward required time to adjust to the speed of the NBA game. Randle has visibly calmed down enough to exhibit the control required to consistently take and make jump shots at the NBA level.

However, the aforementioned gaudy rebounding numbers serve as a stern reminder that Randle is not taking it easy or lazing about the court. He attacks the glass and pursues loose balls with aggression and a slight bit of recklessness. With rookie Larry Nance missing time due to a sore knee, Randle has bumped up to starters' minutes recently and increased his workload. With the extra time on the floor, the no. 7 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft is up to averaging a double-double with 11.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on the season.

At his age and given his experience, Randle's ability to adjust and adapt to the physicality of the NBA and compete at a standout level relates the All-Star potential this kid offers. Entering Wednesday's game in Cleveland, Randle has 21 double-doubles in 53 games during the 2015-16 season, which ranks Randle in the top 20 for the stat.

To put Randle's almost-rookie season in perspective, he has more double-doubles this season than LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Zach Randolph, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kenneth Faried.