'We just want to win': Wolves have no concerns about fit on revamped roster

It's a different Wolves team after the blockbuster trade of Karl-Anthony Towns.

New York Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) high fives forward Julius Randle (30) during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 25, 2024. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Julius Randle spent the better part of his introductory press conference Thursday praising Wolves coach Chris Finch.

Randle, whom the Timberwolves acquired along with Donte DiVincenzo and Keita Bates-Diop as part of the trade that sent All-Star franchise staple Karl-Anthony to the New York Knicks, played for Finch in 2018-19 when Finch was the associate head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. Randle said that year was "the easiest my game had ever felt," and it was the best season of his career at that point in time as he averaged career highs in points and minutes per game.

So Randle was quick to brush off any concerns about how he'll fit in on Finch's Timberwolves.

“Well, I played for Finch before. I played for him in New Orleans, so all you have to do is go look at the tape and you’ll see," Randle said.

The Timberwolves collectively don't appear to have any concerns about how Randle and DiVincenzo will fit into their new team. On paper, pairing Randle with Rudy Gobert could create some spacing issues. Gobert is a true center, and with Randle having established himself as a physical player who gets down hill and attacks the rim, that could present issues clogging the paint, particularly when the team's top option is an electric ball-dominant guard like Anthony Edwards.

Not that Edwards is worried about the fit.

“Just let him know like whatever you did over there, come do it over here. We just want to win. Same rules apply. We just want to win. So should be pretty simple to get in line with everything that we want to do,” Edwards said.

The spacing concerns aren't new for the Timberwolves, who have featured a two-big lineup in Towns and Rudy Gobert the past couple seasons. Towns, however, is a unicorn who at 7-foot is among the best 3-point shooters in the NBA.

But Randle was quick to point out he just spent time playing alongside a similar shot-blocking center in New York in Mitchell Robinson. While Randle isn't the outside threat Towns is, he's a capable shooter from deep, hitting at a 33.3% clip for his career, and has been adept at hitting from the corners. It's clear the Wolves view and value him as a versatile player, which basketball boss Tim Connelly has indicated was the theme of the offseason roster reconstruction.

“I think they all bring versatility and toughness," Connelly said of the trio of additions. "Certainly super competitive guys. And it was important to us that coming off a big season and taking a big risk when you make a trade after coming off of a Western Conference finals, it’s not done lightly. These guys come from winning environments.” 

How everything comes together will only be revealed in due time, but Randle's role has at least partially been revealed as Finch confirmed that he'll start at power forward this season. That means the starting lineup figures to be him and Gobert in the frontcourt with Mike Conley, Edwards and Jaden McDaniels in the backcourt. And plenty of depth on the bench.

And of course, versatility.

The Wolves will certainly look to tap into Randle's toughness and physicality. Mike Conley described Randle having a "dog mentality," and noted his ability to get downhill and how he can be a secondary playmaker from the power forward spot.

“One thing I really love about (Randle), I think he’s a competitor, he works really hard and he’s a little bit of a bully," Gobert said. "He likes to attack you, hit you in your chest and he’s got — I feel like every year he’s gotten better. ... I’m very excited to see how he’s going to be able to help us get to where we want to get as a team.” 

DiVincenzo is a more natural fit and is the type of player, Conley said, the Wolves "desperately wanted to add." The Wolves often lacked sufficient shooting off the bench a season ago, and DiVicenzo is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-best 15.5 points per game on a career-best 40.1% shooting clip from 3-point range. He addresses that pitfall.

Conley noted how the spacing with DiVincenzo will be different than the spacing last season with Towns. The Wolves can look to get DiVincenzo shots off screens, put him in the corners and have him run the floor in transition. Conley said he'll bring a lot of the things Towns brought to the Wolves, but in "guard form." Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid noted DiVincenzo's ability to not just shoot, but to be able to do a little bit of everything while providing much-needed spacing.

"He's able to drive, he's able to pump fake, reload or pass to the next guy, or whatever the case may be, so I think it helps spacing a lot, especially in the second group," Reid said of DiVincenzo. "Yeah, it'll be dope, definitely."

DiVincenzo has experience playing all the guard spots, and his role will likely come into focus and be carved out as the season develops. The ability to play in different spots with the Wolves is something he's looking forward towards.

"I think the IQ of this team, the versatility of this team just makes anything possible," DiVincenzo said. "And I think that’s a big part of why I’m so excited. You’re not in a box of just the 1 or just the 2. You can play with so many different lineups, small, big, doesn’t matter. And I think that’s what’s so exciting about this.” 

The Wolves feel they're among the deepest and most versatile teams in the league. That's a sentiment that would be difficult to argue with at this point. Now the only question becomes how quickly it can all come together.

“I have zero doubt about their ability to fit in to who we are as a team," Gobert said. "I think they’re both guys that play winning basketball, they’re both really tough and they also both got experience. They’ve been on winning teams, (DiVincenzo) won a championship with the Warriors, so we know who we are as a team. I think we got the whole training camp to really try to like get them in to understand what we try to do, which is be a great defensive team."