When the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks last October, it was covered, almost entirely, as a cost-cutting move. The possibility that the Timberwolves, fresh off a conference finals run, might have actually gotten better by swapping out Towns for Julius Randle was hardly considered.
If anything, the Randle fit with Minnesota was largely derided. He was never really seen as a winning player to begin with, so it was easy to continue that narrative. They said he was going to damper Minnesota’s top-shelf defense and stop the ball on offense. When Anthony Edwards was suddenly shooting double-digit 3s a game, they said Randle was screwing up the spacing.
He had a rough January and didn’t play in February. There were reports that Minnesota would look to trade him at the deadline. It seemed every stone that had ever been thrown at Randle was hitting with remarkable accuracy as Minnesota spent the bulk of the season straddling the play-in line.
Fast forward a few months, and Minnesota is headed back to the conference finals in no small part because of Randle, who continued the best stretch of basketball of his postseason — and probably professional — life with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting on Wednesday as the Wolves eliminated the Warriors in five games.
Now let’s be clear about something: Randle has always been a good player. Imperfect, no doubt. But good. He led the Knicks to three playoff berths after they’d endured six straight absences and seasons of 17 and 29 wins in the two years preceding his arrival.
During his three best years in New York, Randle averaged better than 23 points and 10 rebounds, and he did so despite seeing constant double-teams and driving lanes clogged with cheating defenders entirely unconcerned with non-shooters like Elfrid Payton, RJ Barrett and Derrick Rose.
Ultimately, Randle was overtasked as a No. 1 option in New York. But in Minnesota, after some time to feel his way into the more secondary role for which he was always better suited, he has turned into a playoff monster. Through 10 playoff games, Randle is averaging 23.9 points on better than 51% shooting.
Nobody, not even Draymond Green, had a prayer of stopping Randle in this series. There was a different level of poise behind his power as he bullied one defender after another into comfortable post position before scoring with ease.
He got to his left hand relentlessly. He finished at the rim. Through contact. Off glass. He got to his pull-up spots and separated. He punished mismatches, maneuvering into touch range or dipping his shoulder for patented fall-back jumpers. The Warriors had no answer, but this didn’t just start this series. Check out the array of work that Randle gave the Lakers in the first round.
And about that shooting problem? Randle hit four 3s on Wednesday and has connected from deep at better than a 37% clip this postseason. At one point in the second quarter on Wednesday, as Randle was already starting to dance on the Warriors’ grave, all Stephen Curry could do from the bench was shake his head in disbelief.
Again, Randle has always been a good scorer. The efficiency and the flow in which the buckets are coming are what’s currently standing out. When he’s stopping the ball, it’s for good reason. He’s sizing up the right mismatches as Minnesota spaces and cuts around him, and he’s not just scoring out of these creative windows. He’s dishing, too.
Randle has always been an underrated passer, but the processing speed of his decisions in the playoffs has been notable. One time he’s swinging a hot-potato pass as soon as the ball touches his hands, the next he’s absorbing a double-team and kicking to a shooter or patiently waiting for a cutter to break into the clear.
Over Games 2 and 3 against the Warriors, Randle racked up 23 assists to go with his 48 points, the latter total only to be outdone by the 60 he put up across Games 4 and 5.
This is superstar stuff, and yet, what makes Randle so dangerous is he doesn’t actually have to be a superstar. Anthony Edwards has that covered, and the Wolves are clicking on all cylinders as they await the winner of the OKC-Denver series for a shot at the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
This wouldn’t be happening without Randle. He’s taken a ton of criticism over the years, some of it deserved, if only because he was never quite good enough to be as good as the Knicks needed him to be — particularly in the playoffs — even if he was the one who got them there. Now he’s in the right spot for the right team to have a major playoff impact, and he’s taking advantage as the line of critics who owe him an apology gets longer every day.