There have been various discussions around Julius Randle and his fit with this Minnesota Timberwolves team all season long. No one expected him to be as impactful as Karl-Anthony Towns from the start, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that the potential for him to raise the Wolves' ceiling is questionable at best.
Having Randle in certain lineups has caused troubles on the offensive side of the basketball for Minnesota. Additionally, there have been concerns around Julius' attitude and how he carries himself around his teammates. There certainly appear to be several signs that Randle could be on his way out of town before the trade deadline on February 6.
But according to one inside source, that may not actually be the case. Long-time Timberwolves reporter for The Athletic Jon Krawczynski recently spoke on his podcast and voiced that he believes the possibility of the team trading Randle in the next three weeks is slim.
"Right now, as I look at it, I do think it's unlikely," said Krawczynski. "Obviously things can change a great deal in the next three and a half weeks leading into the February 6 trade deadline."
Jon Krawczynski believes a Randle trade is unlikely
Krawczynski looked at Chris Finch's consistent praise of Randle in postgame press conferences and did his own psychoanalysis of what that messaging means for trade talks. "Chris Finch really thinks highly of Julius Randle and thinks that he can help this team win at a high level," he said. "He thinks that this group is closer to turning the corner than a lot of people do.
"You hear him in press conferences, every chance that he gets, he is really kind of hyping up Julius Randle. And I do not think that is because he's trying to improve his trade value. I think Chris Finch looks at Julius Randle, looks [at] what he brings to the table and says this is a guy we can win with, and that is doing a lot of things that can help us."
Many fans are going to quickly disagree with Finch's assessment of Randle's impact, and that is certainly understandable. His ball-holding on offense and on-court demeanor are not exactly ideal, and making a move to trade him in order to promote Naz Reid to the starting lineup would make sense for several reasons.
That said, Randle's production in terms of raw numbers has been mostly consistent since he arrived in Minnesota. If Finch already has the inherent belief that Julius can help this team win in the long-term, it will probably be hard to convince him to pivot in a different direction.