The Lakers threw shade at Julius Randle after opening night

The Lakers highlighted a new Timberwolves player in their NBA season opener: Julius Randle.

The former Knick was the target of the Lakers' offense as he was constantly hunted on defense, whether he was guarding star forward Anthony Davis or fellow starter Rui Hachimura.

Hachimura said after the game that the team tailored its attacking strategy to his defensive deficiencies.

“We talked about Julius Randle,” Hachimura said after the game, according to The Athletic. “Sometimes he just stands there and stuff. So we talked about how we could use that somehow.”

Randle acknowledged his lack of defensive prowess on Tuesday.

He finished the game with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists in his Timberwolves debut.

“There's been (LeBron James) backlash against me a few times and stuff like that, it can't happen,” Randle said after the game.

James' back injuries weren't the only problem for Randle.

Davis scored 36 points and 16 rebounds in 38 minutes as the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 110-103.

Hachimura also looked excellent, scoring 18 points after averaging 13.6 points in 2023.

According to the NBA's on-ball defense stats, Randle had the second-worst defensive rating of any starter in the game, behind only Austin Reaves.

Randle's defense was a major issue before the Knicks' front office shipped him along with guard Donte DiVincenzo as part of the trade for center Karl-Anthony Towns.

In 2021, Randle called his defense “pretty good” despite advanced analytics saying the exact opposite and that the Knicks were the better team with him off the court.

Randle and DiVincenzo will have a tall task ahead of them as they try to find some defensive consistency.