As the NBA trade deadline nears, Julius Randle is leveling up with the Wolves
Nothing is more maddening than the Timberwolves being over the second apron of the NBA's luxury tax and the trade restrictions that come with that status. It makes the odds of Minnesota pulling off a blockbuster trade before the Feb. 6 deadline highly unlikely, which means the odds of Julius Randle being traded aren't all that high.
Maybe that's for the best.
Randle, who has said that it's taken time and patience to adjust to his new role in Minnesota, is on a bit of a heater. In his last four games, Randle is averaging 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists while shooing 63% from the field. He's a plus-45 in the four games.
Randle has actually been quite good since just before Christmas. In his last 12 games, dating back to Dec. 23, Randle is averaging 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 48.5% overall and 33.3% from 3-point range.
In the first 27 games of the season, Randle averaged 20.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists. His scoring has dipped slightly while his rebounds and assists have increased. That's exactly what the Timberwolves were hoping for with Randle in a facilitator role.
"I got a lot of respect, admiration for Julius," Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said last week. "His shot attempts overall are down from where he was in New York, his numbers have been in line with them too, so he's having a bit more of an efficient season for us. We've asked him to do different things at different times as our team's ebbed and flowed. 'Hey, we need you to score more. Hey, we need you to pass more. Hey, we need you to create more offense, we need you to handle more, we need you to pick up the pace for us.'
"He's tried to respond to it all. I'm always conscious that we're asking him to do a lot of things, and maybe he's not able to settle into his own rhythm sometimes. But he's been a trooper, he's guarded a lot, taken a lot of really good matchups for us, and [last Tuesday against New Orleans] was a good example of that."
The one area Randle needs to improve is in the lazy turnovers department. He was averaging 2.6 turnovers in the first 27 games of the season and that number has spiked to 3.7 in his past 12 games.
Randle is playing better. If it's not a blip on the radar, he could be a key to Minnesota redeveloping into a legitimate threat in the Western Conference. If he's not going to keep playing at this level, it would be wise for the Wolves to explore a trade before the Feb. 6 deadline because there is a chance that Randle declinds his $31 million player option and the Timberwolves lose him for nothing after the season.
That, by the way, would mean the Wolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns for Donte DiVincenzo, a lottery-protected first-round draft pick and one year of Randle.