Julius Randle is rewriting narratives, thriving for WCF-bound Timberwolves

Up until recently, the existing narrative was that Julius Randle wasn't a playoff performer. It may not have been totally fair to declare that much based on a 15-game sample size across two postseasons with the Knicks in 2021 and '23, but that's how things go in the NBA. Randle, during those 15 games, averaged roughly 17/9/4 on dreadful shooting splits (34 percent from the floor, 28 percent from deep), with more total turnovers than assists.

Now, with the Timberwolves headed back to the Western Conference Finals, that narrative has been completely rewritten. Randle was once again the best player on the floor in Minnesota's Game 5 win over the Warriors on Wednesday night, scoring 29 points on 13-of-18 shooting to go with eight rebounds and five assists. For as well as Anthony Edwards played at times, Randle was pretty clearly the unofficial MVP of this second-round series. He averaged 25/7/7 on 53 percent shooting and missed only one of his 23 free-throw attempts.

"Julius Randle was incredible," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "What a series. He's always been a really good player in this league, (but) I think he has a taken a leap. I remember playing here early in the season and it looked like a tough fit, they didn't have the spacing, they missed (Karl-Anthony) Towns. And you fast-forward to now, he's 13 for 18 tonight, he was just incredible the whole series. We couldn't stop him."

let’s all take a moment to show Julius Randle some love. 👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/Yt8zJatICh
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 15, 2025

As Kerr mentioned, it took a while to get to this point, where Randle has been playing some of the best basketball of his career. Despite being an All-Star in three of the past four seasons and peaking with a second-team All-NBA selection in 2021, Randle was a polarizing player who was viewed as a clear downgrade for the Wolves when they acquired him, Donte DiVincenzo, and a protected first-round pick in the stunning blockbuster deal that sent Towns to the Knicks just before training camp began. That trade was made by Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly in part for long-term financial reasons, but also because Connelly and head coach Chris Finch believed they could be just as good, if not better, than they were with KAT last year.

That was a high bar to clear, given that the 2023-24 Wolves won 56 games and made it to the WCF. It was always going to take time for this new iteration of the Timberwolves to gel and learn how to play with each other, but that didn't make it much easier to swallow when they dealt with all kinds of inconsistency for most of the regular season. On January 4, the Wolves were 17-17. There was constant speculation about Randle's future and whether or not Minnesota should consider trading him before the deadline for cap reasons related to his 2025-26 player option.

That was never something the Wolves considered. They believed, all along, that Randle could be a big piece of a team that contended for a championship.

"It's hard to predict the future," Finch said. "I was steadfast in my belief that Julius was going to help this team when it mattered most. Like we've talked about a number of times, it was a trial-and-error process, like most things are. But I never really doubted the fact that he was exactly the player that could help us in moments like this. We just had to get to moments like this."

Not long before the trade deadline, Randle suffered a groin injury during a win in Utah. It would keep him out for the entire month of February. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As the Wolves went 5-8 in those games without Randle, he remained engaged with his teammates and did plenty of thinking about what the team needed from him when he returned.

"I got to see our team from afar," Randle said. "After I came back, my mindset was 'how can I help this team win?' and it was just as simple as that."

Starting with his return for a game in Phoenix at the beginning of March, Randle was dialed in on his role. He did a bit of everything for the Wolves, from scoring to playmaking to rebounding to defense. And it all finally started to click, both for him and for the teammates playing alongside him. Starting with that win over the Suns, the Wolves went 17-4 down the stretch and earned the No. 6 seed in the West. Including these playoffs and a few games prior to Randle's injury, the Wolves are 30-6 in the last 36 games where he's taken the floor.

"When he came back from injury, it was like a whole different person," Edwards said after Game 4. "When he came back from injury for that Phoenix game, it was like 'Oh yeah, we might be onto something.' I think that was the turning point."

The talent has always been there for Randle. Finch knew that from their one season together in New Orleans in 2018-19, when Finch was an assistant coach and Randle was a 24-year-old in between stints with the Lakers and Knicks. The Wolves' head coach always had a vision for what Randle could be on this team and how Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert, and the rest of Minnesota's core could fit around him.

"From the day I got here, I just knew the type of coach he was," Randle said. "And I think he's done an amazing job of allowing me to use all my tools. I don't necessarily wanna just be a scorer or a rebounder or whatever it is. He puts me in positions to be multiple different things, many different things on any given night. He's really opened up my game, and I just knew eventually that would be the case as the season went along and my relationship and chemistry developed with my teammates."

It simply took time. Randle is an entirely different player than Towns, who was easily the Wolves' longest-tenured player before the trade. Edwards said he had to learn how to read Randle — "when to be ready to shoot, when to cut, when to screen for him, when to get out his way" — and that he got better at that the more he played with him. To some extent, that was true for everyone on the roster, not unlike how the Wolves had to adjust after the Gobert trade a few years ago.

When Randle is on his game like he has been during these playoffs, especially against the Warriors, he's an absolute force to be reckoned with. He's able to get to his spots with bully ball and finish with layups or short jumpers, even against outstanding defenders like Draymond Green. When defenses collapse on his drives, he's excellent at reading the floor and finding open players. He hasn't been an efficient three-point shooter in his career, outside of one outlier season in New York, but he's certainly capable of making them. And his size and athleticism also makes him effective on the glass and on the defensive end.

Julius Randle this postseason —

29 PTS - 8 REB - 5 AST
31 PTS - 5 REB - 3 AST
24 PTS - 10 REB - 12 AST
24 PTS - 7 REB - 11 AST
18 PTS - 3 REB - 6 AST
23 PTS - 5 REB - 4 AST
25 PTS - 7 REB - 3 AST
22 PTS - 5 REB - 4 AST
27 PTS - 4 REB - 6 AST
16 PTS - 5 REB - 5 AST pic.twitter.com/nOUSOeLbYb
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 15, 2025

"He's been lights out," Green said. "He's aggressive as hell."

Both Finch and Edwards were also full of praise for Randle after Game 5.

"The physicality," Finch said when asked what has made him so good. "The offensive physicality and the ability to get his own shot. The ability to calm the game down. The ability to put body on big wings in the league or big players. He did a great job with LeBron, he did a great job defensively here. I've really been most impressed with his defense. I mean, he's a phenomenal offensive player, we just had to figure out how to unlock it. But his defense and his commitment to the defensive end for us has been absolutely top drawer."

"How he creates for others and his impact on the game," Edwards said. "The way he control the tempo, the way he push the pace, the way he bring us along with him when he pushes the pace. Even his defense has gone to another level. The way that he communicates with us. His attention to detail. Everything, man. It's incredible to be his teammate. He brings it every night and he shows you that he wants to win."

Winning has become a consistent habit for Randle and the Wolves lately. And with Edwards leading the way and Randle right behind him, there's plenty of reason to believe that this trip to the Western Conference Finals could turn out differently than the last one did.

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