On Wednesday, Minnesota Timberwolves fans may have been surprised about Chris Finch’s comments about Julius Randle. After watching the enigmatic forward torpedo the Timberwolves’ dreams during a Western Conference semifinal loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Finch took the blame for Randle's struggles as he spoke to KFAN’s Paul Allen.
“I think Julius’s struggles in the series against San Antonio were my struggles,” Finch said during Wednesday’s episode of the 9 to Noon show. “It’s incumbent upon me to find a way to get him going. I never really could. We just couldn’t do it. Having said that, I thought he did a really good job guarding [Victor] Wembanyama. I thought he did a really good job of playmaking. …So every series is different, we preach that to our guys. Julius was really good for us in the Denver series, and he did a great job in a lot of the things that don’t measure up in the stats sheet. So again, I think the criticism around [Julius]...I can’t stand these overreactions and these strays.”
The comments invoked fear from Wolves fans, who can’t fathom Randle walking back into the Target Center as a member of the home team next season. But Allen’s colleague Paul “Meat Sauce” Lambert believes there may have been a method to Finch’s madness and it may make him more tradeable this summer.
“There’s a little bit of protecting him from a standpoint of that he knows the plan in the offseason,” Lambert said on Thursday’s edition of The Power Trip Morning Show. “He said they’ve got to make some moves. He know he’s their piece to move because he makes $30 million right. They can move him for something.”
Chris Finch’s praising Julius Randle could help his trade value
Lambert’s comments could serve as an important lesson for Timberwolves fans this summer. While Finch could spew superlatives at Randle, he may be just as frustrated as anyone else after watching Randle play lethargically through the second half of the season and shoot 34.2 percent from the floor and 19.0 percent on 3-pointers in the series against the Spurs.
Finch could also see what Naz Reid described as the “moodiness” of the team and know that Randle may have to be traded to fix that problem. But instead of saying that publicly, Finch may use the chance to pump Randle’s tires.
While Randle was a disappointment in the playoffs, he still is a salvageable trade chip as a player who averaged 21.1 rebounds, 6.7 rebounds and 5 assists during the regular season. He also was a key player in Minnesota’s first-round series victory over the Denver Nuggets, averaging 19.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 30 percent on 3-pointers over the six-game series.
For an interested team, that is the version of Randle that Finch wants in their minds and that’s why he sounded like the embattled veteran isn’t going anywhere this summer. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly may know the truth of the situation and be working the phones and leaning into the positives could help Minnesota land assets to acquire a second superstar or key pieces around Reid, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Joan Beringer as part of their sub-26 core.
It also may not be surprising if similar comments regarding Rudy Gobert surface as the Wolves could look to trade him in an effort to re-tool their roster this summer.
A counter is that anyone who watched the playoffs knows that Randle didn’t look as good as Finch described this week. But if they put enough polish on their efforts, they could find a taker and finally not have to worry about this problem much longer.
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