Byron Scott looking forward to seeing Julius Randle back on the court

The Lakers’ summer league squad finished training camp at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo on Thursday.

On Friday, the team will play its first of five games in Las Vegas, starting with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I’m looking to this week, going to Vegas, and seeing how these guys compete,” said Coach Byron Scott.

The team features rookies D’Angelo Russell, Larry Nance Jr. and Anthony Brown, along with returning players Jordan Clarkson, Jabari Brown, Tarik Black and Julius Randle.

Scott and the Lakers are especially excited to see Randle back on the floor, after he sat out almost his entire rookie season because of a broken leg suffered on opening night.

“He was pretty strong last year, and just listening to guys who have had to guard him, some of the guys say he’s the strongest guy they’ve ever guarded,” said Scott.

Randle is also in better shape than he was a year ago, after he lost 15 to 20 pounds.

“I saw him the other day. I don’t go wow with a lot of things, but he had his shirt off and I said, ‘Wow, that baby fat is kind of gone,’” said Scott.

Former Lakers forward Metta World Peace recently participated in an open pickup game at the team’s practice facility.

“Every time he played, he guarded Julius,” said Scott. “Every now and then Metta got the best of him, but when he hit Metta, Metta kind of bounced off of him.

“If Metta says you’re strong, you’re pretty strong,” he continued. “Metta said that kid is super strong.”

Scott doesn’t view Randle as a stretch four.

“His range right now is 15 to 17 feet,” said Scott, who also said he doesn’t expect Randle to play small forward, though he has quick enough feet to guard that position at times.

The team will bring Randle along slowly, sitting him on Saturday to avoid playing him in back-to-back games, playing him no more than 25 to 30 minutes.

The Lakers also have an undrafted center on the roster in Robert Upshaw, who was dismissed from Washington midway through the season for violating team rules.

“The one thing he has to do is get into better shape ... he has a reputation for being a great rim protector, but we haven’t seen a lot of that because Tarik is putting his body on him,” said Scott. “I’m anxious to see how he is in summer league as well, because obviously he’s going to get some playing time.”

Brown will sit out at least the first two games because of an eye injury. Scott’s assistant, Mark Madsen, will serve as the summer league squad’s head coach.

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.