Julius Randle has been critical in the Timberwolves’ run to the Western Conference Finals after stepping up on repeated occasions to become an additional lethal offensive threat for opponents other than Anthony Edwards. Since his trade for Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves fans have always wondered whether they made the right decision. However, these Playoffs seem to have proven that trading for Randle was the right fit for this team.
While discussing Julius Randle’s role on the Timberwolves, ESPN’s NBA insider Brian Windhorst compared him to a miniature version of the Lakers’ superstar LeBron James.
Windhorst appeared on ESPN’s NBA Today segment and said, “I want to tell you about this last series he played with the Warriors. He averaged 25, 7, and 7. 6ft 9 point forward, averaging those kinds of numbers, who does that remind you of? How about LeBron James?”
Windhorst further added, “He’s acting like a miniature LeBron James in this postseason, being a force with his size. Being able to be a playmaker, being able to play different roles on offence, and different roles on defence. Creating all kinds of havoc with what he’s able to do with the ball while he gets in that triple-threat position. This type of player, next to Ant, is what’s taking the Wolves to the next level. The reason that they are here is because of the way they played down the stretch. And the way they played down the stretch was because of how Randle was able to come back from injury and bond with Anthony Edwards, that is what has them live as a real championship contender.”
Assessing Julius Randle’s Performance In The Playoffs
During his time with the Knicks, Randle led them to the Playoffs twice in his career. In the 15 games he played in the Playoffs as a Knicks player, he averaged 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Moreover, he never went beyond the second round of the Playoffs.
However, in the Playoffs this season, Randle has been on a heater. This season, his post-season scoring average saw a steep rise while his rebounding numbers have fallen. He averaged 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 10 games played so far in these Playoffs. While this is nowhere close to James’ playoff career averages (28.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 292 games played), his impact on the Timberwolves has agreeably been similar to James.
One of the key reasons for this is the change in his role with the Timberwolves than what he was doing with the Knicks. He was the primary rebounder on that team and couldn’t focus on scoring. With Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels managing the rebounding duties for the Timberwolves, Randle is free to focus on scoring instead of just gathering the rebounds. This change has helped Randle and Edwards make the Timberwolves a real threat to be title contenders this season.
