It was a little unclear exactly how Julius Randle would fit in with the ‘Nova Knicks — his old-school, bully-ball style of play was not a hand-in-glove fit with those guys.
While we also can wonder exactly how he fits next to Rudy Gobert while Antony Edwards wants to drive to the rim, Randle is excited to find out. In his introductory press conference after being traded for Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster deal between contenders, Randle called the trade “a breath of fresh air” (quotes via Jamal Collier of ESPN).
“You want to be somewhere where you feel wanted. I feel wanted here,” Randle said Thursday. “At this point in my career, I’ve accomplished a lot of great things on an individual level, but I want to win a championship. This is a perfect opportunity to do that…
“It was a breath of fresh air,” Randle said about the trade. “I’m excited to bring everything I’ve learned here over the past five years and help these guys out. My only thing here is I just want to help.”
Randle has put as positive a spin on this as he could — his family, his wife in particular, seems happy with the trade — although how long Randle stays in Minnesota is up for discussion because this deal was more about the money for the Timberwolves.
While Minnesota made this trade for financial reasons — the Timberwolves could save up to $26 million in salary and luxury tax this season and much more down the line depending on Randle’s future contract — there are a lot of people in front offices around the league who think Minnesota won the deal now, too. Landing Donte DiVincenzo in the trade was a big part of that perception, he brings needed shooting and depth to Minnesota.
It leaves a lot on the plate of coach Chris Finch to make it all fit in Minnesota, but a season ago we were saying the same thing about how Towns and Gobert were going to fit, and Finch figured it out, then Minnesota won 56 games and reached the Western Conference Finals. Randle is excited to see if he can help them take one more step this season, and his positive attitude is an excellent place to start.