Timberwolves' loss was proof Randle's addition will come with growing pains

When the Minnesota Timberwolves made their surprising Karl-Anthony Towns trade, shock over losing a former franchise player quickly turned to uncertainty about the future. There were plenty of questions about how both Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo would fit with the rest of the team, and how this would affect Minnesota's trajectory for winning a championship.

As for Randle, we got plenty of answers during the Timberwolves' opening night loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. In the team's first non-preseason game where there were real stakes and expectations to perform, Julius had an up-and-down performance, routinely leaving something to be desired from Minnesota's fanbase.

Randle finished with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting and nine rebounds. He was actually the only Timberwolves starter that finished the contest with a positive plus-minus differential, but that number is a bit deceptive. Minnesota's new starting power forward looked far from polished, and his overall play served as a reminder of just how different he is as a player from Karl-Anthony Towns.

Randle was routinely a liability in Timberwolves' loss to Lakers

Toward the end of the third quarter, Randle caught the ball outside the three-point arc with Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht matched up with him. Attacking his matchup, Randle drove to the basket before stopping, pump-faking, and then putting up around a 10-foot jump shot. The result was an airball.

This was not his first mistake that bothered the Wolves fanbase. Earlier in the first half, he passed up a shot attempt with around one second on the shot clock, forcing Mike Conley to try to get a shot off before a violation was committed. There was also a situation where Randle completely failed to block out on a free throw attempt, leading to Austin Reaves collecting an offensive board.

Needless to say, there were numerous instances of the Julius Randle experience feeling a bit frustrating on night one of the regular season. Of course, it would be easy to panic and jump to conclusions because of this, but I think this just proves what we all probably knew: that getting Randle to fit with the rest of this team will take some time.

Moments of growing pains like Tuesday will happen, but just like with Rudy Gobert, patience will be key. Imagine if Minnesota had given up on Gobert after the 2022-23 season, and the 56-win Western Conference Finals team had never been. Timberwolves fans are right to feel a bit let down at the moment, but don't lose faith just yet.