The Julius Randle Thread

[Klomp]

Go back to what we said initially: We know who we are now and what we need to be and how we need to play coming into this season. Julius showed that he could do that and so that needs to be the baseline, for him and for everyone.

Above and beyond that, Julius has a high “care” factor. He really does. I think he is one of the most misunderstood players in the league. As a person, for sure, he cares and is emotional. At times he wears it on his sleeve a little too much and at times it affects his next-play ability. But he has reached a point — when you talk to him, or he has become very proactive at coming to talk to you about what the team needs and wants from him. He is ahead of the curve on that a lot of the time.

I think he is in a place where he is embraced, protected and valued. All that stuff. Whether it is from Tim (Connelly), ET (defensive coach Elston Turner), or myself, or Anthony. All these people that are around him. Letting him know that it is okay to make mistakes. It’s not New York; you’re not going to be criticized for everything.

We love him and we want him here. And we have proved that to him. As a result, he was willing to do whatever we needed him to do. Now maybe — all these paths are not always easy. But we got there.

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2025/09/qa-timberwolves-chris-finch-on-the-joys-and-challenges-of-coaching-anthony-edwards/

[WolfAddict]

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I could watch lobs to Rudy like that all damn day... ALL. DAMN. DAY.

[Klomp]

Randle came to New York when the Knicks were in the throes of one of the worst stretches in franchise history. He poured everything into helping pull the team out of the gutter. And now he felt left behind.

The isolation and the narrative took him to a dark place. He self-medicated with marijuana (the league stopped testing players for marijuana use in 2023). He withdrew from those around him. Depression, anger and anxiety started to suffocate him.

“At the end of that time, I was kind of at my darkest moment,” he said. “Just miserable, like in a way where I just was not having fun going to work every single day.”

There were strains both at work and at home. He would return to the apartment from rehabbing his shoulder and retreat to a private room away from his family, wallowing in his own misery.

“I would just be in there watching TV in a dark room,” he said. “I didn’t even want to show my face. I kind of just wanted to be left alone and, like, in hiding. Just very frustrated and angry and all those different emotions. It just wasn’t a good place to be in.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6642037/2025/09/26/julius-randle-timberwolves-knicks-trade/

[KGdaBom]

Go back to what we said initially: We know who we are now and what we need to be and how we need to play coming into this season. Julius showed that he could do that and so that needs to be the baseline, for him and for everyone.

Above and beyond that, Julius has a high “care” factor. He really does. I think he is one of the most misunderstood players in the league. As a person, for sure, he cares and is emotional. At times he wears it on his sleeve a little too much and at times it affects his next-play ability. But he has reached a point — when you talk to him, or he has become very proactive at coming to talk to you about what the team needs and wants from him. He is ahead of the curve on that a lot of the time.

I think he is in a place where he is embraced, protected and valued. All that stuff. Whether it is from Tim (Connelly), ET (defensive coach Elston Turner), or myself, or Anthony. All these people that are around him. Letting him know that it is okay to make mistakes. It’s not New York; you’re not going to be criticized for everything.

We love him and we want him here. And we have proved that to him. As a result, he was willing to do whatever we needed him to do. Now maybe — all these paths are not always easy. But we got there.

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2025/09/qa-timberwolves-chris-finch-on-the-joys-and-challenges-of-coaching-anthony-edwards/

He is so good.

[Klomp]

Watch on YouTube

[Klomp]

I think as long as Julius keeps playmaking a priority, he still has room to increase his offensive production. I don't think he has to stifle himself down to under 15 FGAs per game. He can still play the same role and yet get 15-18 FGAs.

I really feel like this is a lever the team can push to help get Ant some help and take some pressure off of him.

Heck, if you want to point to the playoffs, they went 2-5 when he had under 15 FGAs and 7-1 when he had 15 or more FGAs.

[Klomp]

Watch on YouTube

[younggunsmn]

Randle came to New York when the Knicks were in the throes of one of the worst stretches in franchise history. He poured everything into helping pull the team out of the gutter. And now he felt left behind.

The isolation and the narrative took him to a dark place. He self-medicated with marijuana (the league stopped testing players for marijuana use in 2023). He withdrew from those around him. Depression, anger and anxiety started to suffocate him.

“At the end of that time, I was kind of at my darkest moment,” he said. “Just miserable, like in a way where I just was not having fun going to work every single day.”

There were strains both at work and at home. He would return to the apartment from rehabbing his shoulder and retreat to a private room away from his family, wallowing in his own misery.

“I would just be in there watching TV in a dark room,” he said. “I didn’t even want to show my face. I kind of just wanted to be left alone and, like, in hiding. Just very frustrated and angry and all those different emotions. It just wasn’t a good place to be in.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6642037/2025/09/26/julius-randle-timberwolves-knicks-trade/

I think it was undersold a lot just how bad things had gotten for Julius in NYK before the trade.
Sounds like both sides were rapidly headed toward divorce.

Have to applaud the Wolves for going out of their way to make it work here and to make Julius feel comfortable and invested.
We gave up a helluva talented big man in KAT, the likes of which we might not see around here for another 20 years, but the front office and coaching staff deserve credit for doing everything they could to make things work after they had pulled the trigger.

For me the big thing with Julius this year will be cutting back on the turnovers and inefficient plays and honing in on the stuff he does really well, and being able to notice and adjust when matchups are bad for him to do certain things or when teams are scheming to do certain things to him, like in the OKC series last year.

Also a big thing will be becoming a better defensive rebounder and getting out in transition more where he can be one of the best in the league.
I think a big part of that will be getting a lot more consistent on defensive rotations, which if he gets there early should consistently put him in better defensive rebounding position.