Rudy Gobert gives encouraging thoughts on Julius Randle's fit with Timberwolves

Just a few short weeks ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves seemingly had everything figured out. They were ready to head into the 2024-25 season with mostly the same roster as the one that took them to the Western Conference Finals not six months ago, minus Kyle Anderson.

Now, they are tasked with figuring out how to incorporate both Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo into the rotation. Of course, the obvious talent of both these guys probably makes Chris Finch and the staff's task a bit easier, but they have still been given scarce time to get everything in order.

Probably the player who Randle's addition will affect most is Rudy Gobert. The Timberwolves' starting center had gotten quite used to playing alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, and now he will have to get acclimated to a new backcourt partner for the first time since July 2022, when he first arrived in Minnesota.

In an interview with Sportskeeda, Rudy shared his thoughts on the pairing. In the four-time Defensive Player of the Year's view, he and Julius will be an excellent on-court fit next to one another. He raved about Randle's ability.

Gobert's goal is to make Randle's life "even easier"

Gobert sees Julius as the extremely adept interior player that he is, and believes that his own skills will help Randle maximize his output as well. "He's a very smart player. He's very versatile," Rudy said. "I think that I'm going to be able to help him with my screening, with my spacing and my gravity and make his life even easier. I'll try to get him as many easy baskets as he can get."

This intentionality to be a good teammate from Gobert is a very encouraging sign. He recognized just how talented his new power forward is, and is already laying out in his mind how he may be able to assist Randle with his own unique skillset. Rudy also made sure to recognize some of Julius' most specific talents.

"He's a guy that I know will make the right play," said Gobert. "When the defense collapses, I know he's good at kicking out. When the big helps, he's good at finding his bigs. He's a very smart player. We got a lot of games to get used to making mistakes and learn how to maximize him for us as a team." This shows Rudy's know-how as a basketball mind, already understanding the strengths that Randle will bring to the table, mostly just from watching him from afar.

Overall, it seems that Gobert is taking the perfect approach to having Julius as his new teammate and partner in the frontcourt. There will still be plenty of learning moments for these two as they learn how to play alongside each other, but things seem to be going as well as they could so far.