Julius Randle joins Timberwolves as key acquisition in Karl-Anthony Towns trade: ‘I’m more of a passer than a scorer’

In the summer of 2018, Julius Randle signed a two-year deal with the Pelicans, with a player option on the second year.

Randle was coming off his rookie contract with the Lakers, and was essentially playing for his next NBA contract.

That season brought him together with then-Pelicans assistant Chris Finch, who was helping run the New Orleans offense under head coach Alvin Gentry.

The following summer, Randle opted out of his deal after having the best offensive season of his career and signed a three-year, $62 million contract with the Knicks. Randle was so fond of his time with Finch that he has referred to Finch as a “genius” multiple times since joining the Timberwolves.

“He just opened up my game and I became a really versatile player,” Randle said. “I always say, playing there and even still to this point, that was the easiest my game ever felt playing under Finch.”

The trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Keita Bates-Diop has reunited Randle and Finch, with some circumstances the same and some different as the new Wolves season commences Tuesday where it all began for Randle in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

Randle again enters a season with Finch on a deal that includes a player option after this season, but that New Orleans team was a team in transition. This Wolves team is hoping to remain a contender. It is counting on Randle and Finch rekindling the chemistry they had then in order to remain near the top of a crowded Western Conference after the Towns trade.

That season with Finch, Randle’s numbers jumped from 16.1 points per game to 21.4 as he played a majority of the season alongside Anthony Davis. He also had 3.1 assists and 8.7 rebounds.

But as New Orleans struggled to win, Davis requested a trade, and he didn’t play in the last third of the season after making that demand. Whether he was playing with Davis or taking advantage of his absence, Randle played well in Finch’s system.

“It was a learning process and to be honest, man. Finch, up until that point, gave me the most freedom I ever had in my career,” Randle, 29, told the Star Tribune. “I was really just playing to my natural abilities, being put in positions where I had always learned and grew to play the game of basketball, making the right play.”

Playmaking is what the Wolves will be counting on with Randle, and it’s the biggest difference he will bring to the offense over Towns at power forward. Randle has averaged at least four assists per game in the past four seasons of his career. Finch said Randle was a “natural fit” in what they were running in New Orleans.

“That was a kind of a funky year for us because that was the year Anthony asked for the trade. So at that point in time, everything was a little messy,” Finch said. “But I think he definitely enjoyed being a primary guy.

“He’s a guy you can close games with. You can give him the ball late. He can get to his spots, make tough shots. He can get fouled and he can draw and kick.”

With that answer, Finch addressed something that has been a topic of discussion this camp — how will the Wolves close games with a team that has the depth they do? Given Finch’s affinity for how Randle can create offense late in games, it seems as if Randle will start the season in those lineups.

Finch prefers the ball to not get “sticky,” while Randle has a reputation for holding onto the ball as he operates. But Finch has said the ball movement has satisfied him so far in camp, that it’s even ahead of where it has been in recent seasons.

“He’s a big part of that,” Finch said. “He’s been a big early-and-often ball mover for us. I like ball movement, but I like open shots better, and he’s generated a ton of those.”

Finch has especially liked Randle’s ability to generate open three-point looks as the Wolves are hoping to increase their three-point volume this season from 23rd in the NBA a season ago (32.7 per game).

Randle is adept at helping create open threes because, according to Finch, Randle “could make any pass on the floor at any given time.”

“We played so much through our bigs [in New Orleans],” Finch said. “Like at the top of the floor, and I think that kind of gave him the confidence that he could make plays and score, because he was always going to touch the ball. Similar to this day, we still have a lot of those same concepts.”

When Randle went to New York, the Knicks counted on him to be more of a scorer, especially before the arrival of Jalen Brunson, and he averaged 22.6 points over five season with the Knicks, but he still averaged 4.7 assists.

“I’ve always liked to say I’m more of a passer than a scorer,” Randle said. “That’s what I genuinely like to do. That’s how I grew up playing basketball. …

“That’s what I enjoy doing and Finchy’s putting me in many different positions to playmake that I’m excited to be able to show.”

Earlier in training camp, Randle said he was enjoying life in the Twin Cities, that the open space, especially compared to New York, was “more my speed.”

Randle is a food connoisseur, as is Finch, and Finch has helped provide Randle with a guide to the restaurant scene around town. Gai Noi was among Randle’s favorite spots so far.

The former Kentucky standout and Dallas native was also happy to get back on the floor in Wednesday’s preseason game against the Bulls, his only appearances so far in a Wolves uniform. It marked the first time he took the court since January, after missing the rest of last season because of a shoulder injury.

“I felt amazing,” Randle said. “It’s a blessing just to be able to get back out there. It’s been a long time. Nearly nine months for me. Just makes you cherish the game, cherish every opportunity.”

Randle came under criticism at times in New York for how he played in the postseason, but the crowd cheered for him and DiVincenzo when the Wolves played there last weekend. He helped turn the Knicks into a playoff team again and made three All-Star teams while there.

He enters a situation with the Wolves in which the team is trying to remain contenders following a trip to the Western Conference finals, and how this year plays out will determine just how long this union between him and the team will last.

But even though the scenery and his teammates are new, the familiarity he has with Finch is the biggest reason this could succeed for him and the Wolves.

“I know he’s going to bring the best not only out of me but out of everybody,” Randle said. “I just want to be able to show that and to help any way I can.”