Lakers' Scott says Julius Randle will remain starter for rest of the season

After inexplicably benching him for almost half the season, Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott said he's planning on keeping second-year power forward Julius Randle in the starting lineup, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Scott was displeased with Randle and rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell -- the franchise's two future cornerstones -- earlier in the season, and decided to bench them in favor of trying to win games, which the Lakers shouldn't be trying to do -- they lose their first-round draft pick if they don't finish with a top-3 pick -- and haven't been.

Scott's logic in keeping Randle in the starting lineup is simple:

Of course, Scott is overcomplicating matters, as he needs to explanation for starting Randle -- it should be mandatory, regardless of his performance. Barring a clear lack of effort, which has never been the case with Randle, he should be penciled in for 30-32 minutes a night so he can learn and grow with in-game experience (and the same applies to Jordan Clarkson and Russell).

Randle is averaging 12.8 points and 11.8 rebounds since re-entering the starting lineup 13 games, when rookie forward Larry Nance Jr. went down with a sprained right ankle. Nance Jr. has since returned in a limited role, and Scott finally feels as if Randle has "earned" his spot back.

Randle has worked with Lakers shooting coach Tracy Murray to help improve his shooting motion, and the results have paid off. Randle has improved his field-goal percentage from December (39.3 percent) to January (40.7 percent) and then once again in February (46.2 percent), and generally looks more comfortable than he had earlier in the season.

Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.