Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch knows the exact moment he began clicking on Julius Randle.
Dealing with a new team means uprooting the player’s life. Obviously, sometimes it can take some time for players to adjust to a new organization.
In his former seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Julius Randle experienced it during the 2024-25 NBA season as he was traded for the Minnesota Timberwolves by the New York Knicks.
Randle’s debut season with the Timberwolves was full of ups and downs, but manager Chris Finch never lost faith in him. It’s ultimately rewarded during the 2025 NBA playoffs.
Before being traded with the Timberwolves, Randle spent five seasons with the Knicks. At the Knicks, Randle’s main role was to help score.
Coach Finch recently admitted that he wanted Randle to focus on scoring at the beginning of his T-Wolf career. This is backed up by the data provided by Sofascore.
“We realised that in the middle to late December, especially in Julius, when we started seeing what we could be.
“And to be fair to Julius, sometimes we asked him to do something else, and he did that. That might not have been the right thing,” Finch said.
Finch then admitted his mistake of wanting Randle to focus on scoring.
“I told him early on, we thought you need to score, score, score, that’s what we needed, and all we really needed was his all-round game, his playmaking and his score.
“But when he starts playing a kind of play, it’s made for his teammates and it’s a moving forward point for us,” he added.
Randle then returned to Madison Square Garden, with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, but ended up on the loser.
Before that game, Randle averaged 20.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. However, posting the contest showed a clear change in the organization’s Randle production.
“I’ve always pointed to the game and played at Madison Square Garden in December. We played the Knicks, which was the home game on the way home.
“Personally, I think he took three or four shots, but he only played incredible all-around games, including defense, rebounding, creating pace.
“And for me, it was that moment, and I always point out that our team is like a team that grows and grows around Julius.
“We won that night. We won on Christmas Day. This was another big game for us. We were starting to get a little better. He played a monster game on Christmas Day.
Since that game on December 20, 2025, Randle has averaged 17.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Certainly, his score has fallen, but in other aspects of the game you can see clear spikes.
“It’s not always the players’ fault. I was very happy and proud that he played so well in the Lakers Series,” concluded coach Finch.
Randle thrived in his new role, helping the Timberwolves eliminate La Lakers in just five games. Now, Randle’s next task is to continue playing at this level and pass the Golden State Warriors in the second round.