The 2024 playoffs brought a kind of excitement that Minnesota Timberwolves fans hadn't experienced in years. Minnesota swept Kevin Durant and Phoenix in the first round, and beat Nikola Jokic and Denver in the second round before coming up short against Luka Doncic and Dallas in the Western Conference Finals.
Hopes were high entering the 2024-25 season, but then the unthinkable happened. The Timberwolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. It took fans a while to understand why the front office traded a key piece of their WCF run, especially for an unproven playoff performer like Randle.
Randle and DiVincenzo struggled at the beginning of the season. It looked like Minnesota would be nothing more than a Play-In Tournament team, but that was before the Timberwolves started to figure things out. It takes time to adjust to trades, especially those that happen before training camp.
Minnesota secured the No. 6 seed in the West, setting the team up for a first-round playoff matchup against the Lakers. Los Angeles also made a major trade by acquiring Luka Doncic before the deadline, propelling the team to the No. 2 seed in the West. Most people picked the Lakers to advance, but the Timberwolves advanced to the second round with a 4-1 series win.
Julius Randle helps lead Timberwolves to playoff series win over Lakers
Randle's first postseason series with Minnesota was special for more than one reason -- his first chance to flip the playoff narrative that haunted him in New York against the team that drafted him in 2014. Randle spent the first four seasons of his career in LA before he signed with New Orleans in free agency.
He helped revive the Knicks, but never had the postseason outburst that fans desired. So much for saying Randle was nothing more than a regular-season star. He was instrumental for the Timberwolves in the first round, averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, shooting 48.1% from the field and 39.3% from three.
It wasn't that long ago when Minnesota fans were worried that Randle wouldn't amount to much of anything for the Timberwolves. Luckily, he proved everyone wrong. The cherry on top is that he did so against his former team. Los Angeles will always hold a special place in Randle's heart, and he gave the city new meaning by eliminating the Lakers in his first Timberwolves playoff series.
There is still plenty of basketball left to be played for Minnesota, but if the last couple of weeks showed anything, it's that Randle was the perfect addition to this Timberwolves squad.