Randle Says Shock the World. The Extension Situation Says Something Else.

Julius Randle went public this week with a straightforward message: the Nets are going to surprise people. It's the kind of thing a new arrival says, and Brooklyn needed someone to say it. The front office spent the summer adding real pieces — Randle himself, Keon Ellis on a two-year deal, multiyear commitments to Day'Ron Sharpe and Josh Minott. After a 20-62 season in which Michael Porter Jr. carried 23.8 points a night with almost no help, the roster at least looks different now.

The problem is that the most important move of the offseason still hasn't happened. Porter Jr. became extension-eligible in early July, and as of this week the two sides remain at an impasse. Brooklyn built its retool around him — traded Nic Claxton, brought in Randle, locked up the young bigs — and the centerpiece of all of it still doesn't have a deal. Randle can talk about shocking the world, but a franchise that's genuinely committed to its best player usually has that conversation settled before training camp.

Both things can be true at once: the new pieces are real, and the unresolved extension is real. My read is that the Nets want to see how this group looks in camp before deciding what Porter Jr. is worth long-term. That's not irrational. It's just a different message than the one Randle is sending.