Randle spends most of his time on offense lurking around the perimeter and clanking open looks. He is not a very efficient scorer. On defense he just kinda stinks.
I'm comparing Randle's stats to those of Anthony Davis, who I think is washed but who over his career has often been considered a top player, and Deandre Ayton, whose game we are all familiar with.
Percentage of shots taken inside three feet (career): Randle .359, Davis .346, Ayton .447. Ayton does more of his work right at the rim than either of the other players, but he has the benefit of playing with Chris Paul. Randle has the fewest dunks, by a wide margin. So if we thought Ayton was soft...
Percentage of shots that are three-pointers: Randle .194, Davis .092, Ayton .022. So you're right that Randle spends a lot more time looking for the long ball.
Three-point make percentage: Randle .332, Davis .302, Ayton .266. Not really relevant in Ayton's case, since he takes so few of them. I was surprised at how bad Davis is, since he shoots 1.6 per game and that number has, in some seasons, been much higher. But the real question is whether Randle makes enough from out there to justify shooting them so much. I'd say it's borderline, but, in any case, not a great strength.
Make percentages at 3-10 feet, and at 10-16 feet: Randle .396, .402, Davis .441, .421, Ayton .536, .448. Basically the first of these numbers are shots in the paint but not at the rim, and the second number is midrange. Randle's weakness is evident here, although he's not much worse than Davis. When Ayton is effective, it's because he's making use of the advantage he has on shots from these distances. Randle, in addition to shooting poorly in these ranges, doesn't take many.
Offensive, defensive, total rebounds per 36 minutes: Randle 2.3, 8.4, 10.7, Davis 2.6, 8.0, 10.7, Ayton 3.7, 8.5, 12.2. Defensive boards are remarkably similar; Ayton has the edge as an offensive rebounder.
Defensive rating (low is good): Randle 110, Davis 103, Ayton 109. But Davis has been worse the last couple of years, so this stat is probably a wash.
Based on these numbers, it looks to me that Randle is kind of like a poor man's Anthony Davis -- which is to say, a 2022 Anthony Davis. I agree that that's not very appealing. Randle is overpaid and his contract runs until 2026.
So you've talked me out of him. I still think it wouldn't be a terrible pickup, but it's likely to mean a cost-cutting measure down the road, so overall he's probably not worth it.
