The Los Angeles Lakers have been careful to temper expectations for Julius Randle. On paper, the rookie out of Kentucky may seem an obvious choice to receive the torch that Kobe Bryant's carried for years, albeit in large part by default. After all, Randle, the No. 7 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, is easily L.A.'s most promising young prospect, which says as much about the rest of the roster as it does about the Dallas native.

Fortunately for the Lakers, they appear to be at least two years away from any concrete transition between Bryant and Randle. Bryant's two-year, $48.5 million extension runs through the end of the 2015-16 season, though he hasn't ruled out playing beyond that.

"Whether I do or not, we'll have to see that two years from now," Bryant said at Lakers media day, via Yahoo Sports' Marc J Spears. "I don't know, but I could [play longer]. Physically, I don't see an end to the tunnel."

Until then, the Lakers' proverbial flame will be Bryant's to carry. As for Randle, he's got his work cut out for him before he's ready to be anointed the Next Great Laker.

"Julius is still 19 years old," general manager Mitch Kupchak said just prior to the opening of training camp, per The Los Angeles Times' Eric Pincus. "You wouldn’t know that by looking at him, because he’s really a well-developed, big, strong, athletic kid. Over the years, I've never looked at a rookie and said, 'Hey, this guy's gonna bring us to the top.' It doesn't do any good to have high expectations."

If nothing else, Randle seems to have a strong grasp of the company line as it pertains to his present and future. "I'm just a 19-year-old kid, making the adjustment to the NBA," he said at media day, via the Los Angeles Times. "When you're coming into the NBA as a rookie, you have to prove yourself. I know that, and that doesn't bother me at all. I don't want anything given to me in the first place."

Good thing, too. So far, Randle hasn't proved much in camp, other than that he'll need time to adjust to his new situation. He's already gotten his comeuppance from Bryant, who's been schooling his supposed successor in conditioning drills, despite being 16 years older and coming off a season lost to Achilles and knee injuries.

That's not a good look for the newcomer, to say the least, even though it's coming in contrast to one of the most maniacally competitive and acutely conditioned athletes the NBA has yet seen. Fortunately for Randle, the Lakers aren't counting on him to play big minutes or shoulder a significant share of responsibility for the team's success out of the gate. He's not even likely to start during the Lakers' preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets:

In truth, Randle's relegation to bench duty might be what's best for everyone. The Lakers want to bounce back from from a bad season in a big way, in part to ensure that the best efforts of Bryant and Steve Nash won't be wasted entirely.

As unrealistic as a return to postseason play may seem for L.A., it almost certainly won't be in the cards if the team has to count on Randle to handle the starting spot at power forward. At present, the league is littered with frontcourt players (i.e. Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Dirk Nowitzki, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Zach Randolph, Serge Ibaka, Pau Gasol, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins) who could probably pick on the 6'9" greenhorn with something approaching impunity.

Not that Carlos Boozer, a notoriously porous defender, will fair that much better, but at least the 12-year veteran has been around long enough and enjoyed a measure of success therein to hold his own more reliably than his understudy might. Hypothetically speaking, with Boozer doing the heavy lifting at power forward, Randle can acclimate himself to the NBA game more comfortably while learning the ropes from a seasoned veteran.

"We didn't decide, 'Well, [Randle isn't] going to help us this year, let's get a veteran,'" Kupchak added. "We got [Boozer] to help us win games this year. Whatever Julius gets, he's going to have to earn."

It may be a while before Randle earns his keep, but that might not be so bad. Once upon a time, a certain precocious teenager spent 150 of his first 157 games as a Laker on the bench.

His name? Kobe Bean Bryant.

This isn't to suggest that Randle is or will ever be on Bryant's level as a player. Rather, if Bryant began his journey to greatness as a reserve, Randle could stand to do the same.

Above all, it's incumbent upon the Lakers to take every precaution, necessary and otherwise, to ensure that Randle is brought along properly and elevated in due course. Barring another complete and utter collapse in the months to come, L.A. won't get to select another blue-chip prospect in next year's draft; the Phoenix Suns own their 2015 first-round selection (top-five protected) as recompense for the 2012 Steve Nash trade.

The Lakers will have their own pick to play around with in 2016, but Bryant might already be gone by then. Moreover, if Kupchak and executive vice president Jim Buss are going to convince a star free agent or two to soak up the cap space that Bryant will leave behind, they'll have to be able to lay out a clear plan to return the franchise to championship contention.

In all likelihood, that blueprint will begin with Randle. At least, it'll have to if the Lakers are going to regain, much less retain, relevance post-Mamba.

Historically speaking, transitions like the one for which the Lakers are preparing don't often go smoothly. The Chicago Bulls suffered through a franchise-worst six-year playoff drought following Michael Jordan's second retirement. The Lakers won just two postseason series in the six years after Magic Johnson began his battle with HIV. Larry Bird's departure preceded a stretch of eight seasons with but one playoff appearance among them for the Boston Celtics.

Go back even further through the annals of NBA lore, and you'll see the Lakers struggling to regain their footing after Jerry West called it quits, and the C's doing the same without Bill Russell in the early 1970s and without John Havlicek later that same decade.

None of this should come as a shock. Great players are exceedingly difficult, if not nigh on impossible, to replace. There's only so much any franchise can do to prepare for the departure of a crucial cornerstone, especially one like Bryant, who has spent half of his life in purple and gold.

The Lakers, though, are fortunate to have at least one potential star to bridge the gap between their glorious past and what they hope will be a similarly bright future. Randle showed off some studly upside while averaging 15 points and 10.4 rebounds as a freshman at Kentucky. Rebounding tends to translate well to the NBA—just ask Kenneth Faried, the NCAA's all-time leading rebounder who's soon to be the proud owner of a five-year, $60 million extension, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

But Randle, like Faried, isn't without clear shortcomings as a player, as Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman noted:

He's going to need to develop a jumper in the pros to complement his face-up game in the mid-range and inside game down low.

Between Randle's defensive limitations and questionable style of play, his transition to the NBA might not be as smooth as his pro-ready body suggests it should be.

The chances of Randle seamlessly assuming Bryant's role in Lakerland are slim, even with no fewer than two years to develop before then. But if the Lakers play their cards right and don't heap too much on the rookie too soon, they just might be able to weather the storm they're in right now and the more dangerous one that figures to follow, thanks in no small part to Randle.

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