Julius Randle is on a playoff redemption tour.
Randle was in a difficult situation when the New York Knicks included him in the trade for Minnesota Timberwolves franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns days before training camp last October. Towns had a polarizing career in Minnesota, but fans had lofty expectations for Randle when he joined the Wolves.
It was a quick acclimation process for Randle, making finding his spot with Minnesota challenging. Still, after some time for reflection during a mid-season groin injury, Randle has played some of his best basketball and fully gelled with his new teammates and system.
“I got some time to sit and evaluate, getting traded here a few days before the season, I did not really get a summer,” Randle said after Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers. “When I got injured, those few weeks I was able to see what the team needed.”
Similar to Towns, Randle has had a polarizing career. The former 7th overall pick has been in many situations and circumstances throughout his NBA career. He started his career with the tanking Los Angeles Lakers, spent a season with the middling New Orleans Pelicans, and most recently, helped drive success with the New York Knicks.
Despite Randle’s increase in value to winning over his career and in New York, he has not always been able to find individual playoff success.
Before this season, Randle had only played in 15 career playoff games. In those 15 games, Randle has averaged 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 34.4% from the field and 28.3% from three, with a true shooting percentage of 46.2% and an effective field-goal percentage of 40.2%.
Randle has struggled in playoff environments. His inability to score efficiently while the Knicks heavily relied upon him ultimately limited the team’s playoff ceiling and negatively impacted his reputation as a player.
In Randle’s playoff debut, he was New York’s top scoring option on the Knicks roster, and people had lofty expectations for him. Therefore, they gave Randle more leeway with his performance. New York’s supporting cast was not as reliable.
The Knicks’ series with the Atlanta Hawks finished in a five-game loss and a nightmarish output from Randle. He averaged 18 points per game on 29.8% from the field.
Randle’s situation improved moving forward. In his next trip to the playoffs in 2023, he had Jalen Brunson alongside him for two rounds. Therefore, Randle was not holding as much of an offensive load, but had the same efficiency struggles. Shooting 37.4% from the field and 25.8% from three despite playing in a better situation. Another poor performance only increased uncertainty around Randle’s value and viability to a championship-contending team.
Minnesota has placed Randle in yet another new situation, but there is still familiarity to his most recent playoff run. Much like his 2022-23 season, when he was the second option to Jalen Brunson, Randle is in a more favorable situation. Randle is not the main scoring threat and plays a supporting role for Anthony Edwards. Still, his prior playoff history has made it challenging to project his playoff impact for Minnesota this season.
Simply put, the Timberwolves need a much better Randle if they want to make a deep playoff run, and that is exactly what Randle has brought so far through two games.
Minnesota could not find consistent offense in Game 2 in LA and started the game slowly, with only 15 points in the first quarter. Three early fouls to Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo further complicated Minnesota’s offense. Therefore, Randle had to step up.
Randle was Minnesota’s most consistent offensive contributor in Game 2. He scored a playoff career-high 27 points on 9 of 17 from the field, 2 of 4 from three, and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line. His ability to match LA’s physicality, get downhill off the dribble, and make the most of the space provided due to the tight coverage on Anthony Edwards kept the Timberwolves afloat.
In the first half alone, Randle totaled 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting while the rest of the Timberwolves were 9 of 27.
Randle succeeded in finding a healthy balance in Game 2. He has often had difficulty finding the correct speed at which to play. Sometimes, he is more aggressive and speeds up, looking to get downhill and using bully ball to punish defenders. Other times, Randle likes to hold the ball and survey the floor before attacking the defense. When Randle is at his best, he can decipher how to play based on the defense on any possession.
Randle has seen many matchups through two games due to LA’s frequently switching actions and trusting their defensive versatility. The Lakers effectively remove advantages by switching pin downs, screens, and handoffs. Still, there is room for Minnesota to fight back.
One of the biggest concerns about Karl-Anthony Towns’ playoff viability was his inability to score against various matchups. However, Julius Randle can find ways to play bully ball against Austin Reaves. He can also blow by Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, and LeBron James with his quickness. Randle’s versatility makes Minnesota’s offense more dynamic than last season.
Julius Randle is Minnesota’s skeleton key if the Timberwolves want to continue to give Anthony Edwards more opportunities to shine against LA’s complex offense and want to find consistent offense.
Fully enabling Randle can be difficult, and the sample size of playoff success is small. However, given how much the Timberwolves struggled to find consistent offense in Game 2 and how difficult it is to go shot-for-shot with Luka Doncic late in games, Minnesota needs to take full advantage of Randle’s adaptability to continue to compete with the Lakers.