Julius Randle settles in with Minnesota Timberwolves

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kyden Randle may have been the most popular child in New York City, especially among New York Knicks fans. The son of New York Knicks forward Julius Randle was beloved for his passion and sense of humor during his father’s home games. But a mere two days before Knicks training camp, Randle found out he was no longer a Knick and had break the news to his son, who had already started school.

“How it affected my family was the biggest part,” Randle told Andscape after the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 117-115 win over the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 24. “My oldest son was in school. He will be 8 in December. He’s been going to school with all his best buddies for 2½ years and they started school. That was tough for him. It was really the hardest part …

“I broke the news to him by just being honest by telling him that I got traded to Minnesota. I told him this was going to be best thing for him, our family and me personally. I was trying to do little things to get him excited. He’s a big fan of [Minnesota Vikings wide receiver] Justin Jefferson. Then he got excited about Ant [Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards] and being around the team. A new house. You just have to find ways to trick him a little bit.”

Randle himself was “a little shocked of the timing” of being traded from the Knicks to the Timberwolves for four-time All-Star forward Karl Anthony-Towns and guard Donte DiVincenzo on Oct. 3. It wasn’t that Randle was unaware of trade rumors, but it’s rare that a trade is made so close to training camp. While the Timberwolves have made a lot of changes over the past year, Randle told Andscape that he believed he would have fit in well this season.

Randle averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Knicks from 2019-24. All three of his NBA All-Star appearances were for New York. The 2021 NBA Most Improved Player led the Knicks to the playoffs in 2020 for the first time after an eight-year hiatus. Just days before the trade, Randle also had a basketball court in New York City named in his honor at the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School after raising more than $1.3 million for the institution.

“I was really thrown off with it being so close to training camp,” Randle said of the trade. “We had training camp in two or three days. My mindset was ready to go to Charleston [South Carolina] for training camp. It took me like a night or two [to accept it]. The next morning. I was extremely happy because I forgot everything else and thought about the basketball side …

“It’s not that I was thinking I couldn’t get traded. I kind of had an idea [trade talks] were going on, but I think it would happen more during the season or closer to the trade deadline because the summer already passed. I was a little shocked on the timing. I was happy with where I was going, for sure.”

Once the dust settled, Randle got excited about what was to come in Minnesota for several reasons.

Randle was pairing up with Edwards, one of the NBA’s most exciting young superstars, and the Timberwolves advanced to the 2024 Western Conference finals. Making matters easier, Randle was reuniting with Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, who was an assistant coach with New Orleans Pelicans when Randle played there during the 2018-19 season.

“It’s crazy because he makes the game so easy,” Randle, 29, said. “His understanding of spacing, actions on and off the ball, sets, all that different type of stuff, what is a good shot and a bad shot. He really simplifies the game. I felt that when I was in New Orleans and I feel that here now. I don’t have to force anything …

“What other coach would I love playing for other than Finch? He knows my game so well. Once I started thinking about that side of it, I got really excited.”

Finch said it “helped a ton” as a coach that he had worked with Randle. Finch added that he has always been a “big Julius fan” and that Edwards and the rest of the players would adore Randle’s toughness, passing ability and impact on games.

“I loved Julius when we had him in New Orleans,” Finch told Andscape. “I felt like he was happy to be coming to [Minnesota]. I just told him when he got traded, ‘You’re gonna love it. You’re gonna love our guys. You’re gonna love the system. We’re going to get the ball in your hands early. You’re going to have an opportunity to play your game.’

“I have a pretty good feel for it. He told me that he liked the freedom and fluidity that we have shown to play with. He liked that in New Orleans. I just told him time and time again that we’re happy to have him.”

Randle averaged 24 points and 9.2 rebounds in 46 games during an injury-plagued 2023-24 NBA season with New York. He has the scoring, rebounding and playmaking ability to fill Towns’ big shoes, but during Randle’s debut with the Timberwolves, he scored only 16 points and made only 10 field goal attempts in a 110-103 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 22.

During an Oct. 24 shootaround in Sacramento, Finch was very blunt with Randle, telling him that he needed to be aggressive on offense and stop trying to fit in.

“He’s defaulting too much,” Finch said before the Kings game. “We told him the last few days, ‘You got to be more aggressive. You got to look to do your thing a little bit more. We love the fact that you’re trying to really fit in and, as a result, just kind of create a lot of offense for your teammates.’ But I also trust that he’s going to make the right play and he needs to continue to impose himself on the game, be a little bit more aggressive.

“That’s the best way to do it. Go out there, be yourself. We will figure it out as we go. But if you’re that talented, to defer, then we need you to do what you do best … So, he seems to understand that and that message.”

Randle proved he understood with a dominant performance versus Sacramento: 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting and 5-of-6 on 3-pointers while adding five assists and four rebounds in 35 minutes. Randle and Edwards also showed signs of being an intimidating scoring duo that night.

“ Finchy told him [Thursday] morning, ‘Don’t fit around us. We go to fit around you. You’re an All-Star, Ju. Be who you are.’ And [against Sacramento], that [expletive] was incredible. That’s what we need,” Edwards told Andscape.

Randle and Edwards each scored 24 points in the Timberwolves’ 112-101 victory against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. Edwards told Andscape that he is very excited about what Randle is adding to Minnesota.

“What it means is we can give him the ball, get out of his way and tell him to go get us a bucket. And that is what we need. Sometimes we swing it a little too much. Swing. Swing. We’re stagnant around the perimeter. We need somebody other than me that can go get a bucket. And he showed us that” against Sacramento, Edwards said.

“He’s fit in really, really well on and off the floor. He’s super-happy to be here. Guys have really embraced him,” Finch said.

When he began his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Randle played with Kobe Bryant, one of the NBA’s greatest players and the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer. Edwards is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NBA All-Star known for his scoring, high-flying dunks and electric plays.

So, is Edwards as intimidating offensively, in skills and athletically as Bryant?

“I didn’t play with Bean in his prime,” Randle said. “But the mentality is very similar. No hesitation. Ant gets right to it. He’s special. Physically, he’s gifted. Skillwise, he’s gifted. Dude is different. There aren’t many players like him.

“Now I’m seeing his leadership, that he is charismatic, and his energy. He makes everybody believe. He’s special.”

After the Timberwolves’ first road trip, Randle joined his wife and two young sons in their new Minneapolis-area home Friday. The thought of his boys finishing school in New York City until the start of 2025 was not an option for Randle because “they need to be with me.” He is currently in the third year of a four-year, $117 million contract with a player option for the 2025-26 season and open to signing a contract extension. The Dallas native added that he is “in a great place mentally.”

While Randle said he is bracing for the frigid winters, he is optimistic about life with the Timberwolves. He believes change will be good in Minnesota.

“I’m extremely excited from top to bottom,” Randle said. “From livingwise to organization to coach to how things are done here. It’s really a breath of fresh air for me … We can be really good. We have to take it one day at a time. But we can be special as a group. If we compete, we can be extremely good. As good as we want to be.”