Julius Randle is doing some things very well on the offensive end this season. For the first time in his 12-year career, he has more than double the number of assists than turnovers. His ‘bully-ball’ style is leading to nearly seven foul shots per contest, and he is making them at a career-best 82.4 percent clip. He is averaging nearly four more points per game than last year, in what was his first season with the Timberwolves.
For the past eight years, it has been a love/hate relationship between Randle and the 3-point line. One season, he was excellent from beyond the arc, but otherwise, the 31-year-old has been very streaky. For the month of December, Randle has been on quite a cold spell after beginning the season hitting shots from deep with regularity.
Well under 30 percent from beyond the arc in December
The Timberwolves have now played 12 games in December and have gone 8-4 (although they have lost two straight). Minnesota has two games remaining this month: Monday night at the Bulls and a Wednesday afternoon game at the Hawks on New Year’s Eve. Unless Randle goes on an absolute heater in those two outings, it’s a month he’ll want to forget from long distance.
In the 12 appearances this month, the 6-foot-9 forward has connected on just 14 of his 52 3-point tries (26.9%). Take away his first six games in December, and it dips down to 19.2% (5-26).
If you recall, Randle was playing some of his best basketball on the offensive end to begin the season. It made Randle's re-signing during the offseason look like an absolute bargain. During his five games played in October, Randle averaged 26.6 points and made 13-28 from beyond the arc (46.4 percent). That month, he had two games of at least four 3-pointers made (and had none in his last 27 contests).
It has really been nearly two full calendar months since Randle has shot the 3-ball well. The month of November was better than December, but not by much. In 15 games in November, Randle shot 24-76 from deep (31.6 percent). After such an awesome start to the season, he is now down to 32.7 percent 3-point accuracy on the year.
Can become one of the better teams from deep if Randle can find better consistency
As I mentioned, Randle has one season in his career where he remained consistent in knocking down the 3-point shot throughout the year, and it’s beginning to look more and more like an outlier. It was in 2020-21 with the Knicks when he was named the league’s Most Improved Player. That season, he nailed 41.1 percent of his 3-point tries.
Otherwise, Julius doesn’t have another year in the NBA where he shot even 35 percent from distance. His 32.7 percent 3-point accuracy in 2025-26 is slightly less than his career mark of 33.4 percent.
Becoming an elite team from 3-point territory would go a long way in helping the Timberwolves become more of a title contender than they are currently depicted as. Right now, they rank 13th in the league, making 14 3s per game, and are seventh with their 36.8 percent 3-point accuracy. Minnesota could become that much more lethal from downtown if Randle can up his accuracy to around 36-38 percent for the rest of the season.
This would be paired with the Wolves reaching another level as an overall team.