Minnesota Timberwolves fans will be happy to see the 2024-25 regular season end as soon as possible. There’s been some good, too much bad, and the ugliest loss of the season, blowing a 24-point fourth-quarter lead against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
The postseason will be here, whether you like it or not, after the Wolves finish their regular-season schedule on Sunday against the Utah Jazz. As of writing, the Timberwolves are still mathematically in play for seeds 3-8. The NBA Playoffs, especially in the Western Conference, are a magical land where dreams can come true and hearts will get broken nightly. Minnesota could still put a positive stamp on the end of a tumultuous season with a deep playoff run.
However, there’s a 6’9”, 250-pound elephant in the room.
Julius Randle has built a really nice career for himself. He endured a broken leg 14 minutes into his rookie season and has worked his way to three All-Star selections, two All-NBA nods, and a Most Improved Player trophy in 2021 during his second season in New York.
For as steady as Randle has become in the regular season since he left the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, Julius Randle absolutely sucks in the playoffs.
Randle’s career regular-season numbers will get him sent to the Hall of Very Good as soon as he’s eligible. In 707 regular-season games, Randle averages 19 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.8 turnovers per game on 47.1/33.3/75.3 shooting splits. Not bad for a bullyball power forward. His numbers have dipped a bit during his first season in Minnesota. Randle is averaging 18.6 points, seven rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game as he’s spent most of the season adjusting to playing with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.
Randle has only advanced to the playoffs twice in the first 10 years of his career. His first playoff experience came in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. It was Randle’s second year in New York and Tom Thibodeau’s first season patrolling the sidelines at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks surprised the basketball world by winning 41 of 72 games and earned the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.
Randle had just finished the best season in his NBA career, which landed him on the All-NBA second team, but he was immediately overwhelmed when the lights got bright.
He shot 6-23 in the Game 1 loss. Randle followed that up with a slightly better 6-15 showing in Game 2, a 101-92 win to even the series at 1-1. However, that was the mediocre height of Julius Randle’s introduction to playoff basketball. In Game 3, Randle made only two of his 15 shots and scored 14 points in a loss. He committed 13 turnovers across games four and five to seal New York’s early playoff exit in five games after one of the most promising seasons in the Big Apple in a decade.
In his first five playoff games, Randle shot 29.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three, averaged 18 points and 11.6 rebounds, and turned the ball over 4.6 times per contest. Not his finest hour, but things can only get better.
The Knicks had a down season in 2021-22, winning only 37 games and missing the playoffs. New York fought its way to 47 wins and the fifth seed in the East in 2023, giving Julius Randle a chance at redemption. Even though the Knicks won the first-round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1, Randle did not cover himself in glory. Again, Randle couldn’t find his stroke, shooting a paltry 33.8 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three during the series.
The Knicks faced the Miami Heat in the second round, and although the Knicks lost in six games, Randle finally found a modicum of postseason success. He sat out Game 1, which New York lost, but had the best playoff performance in his career in Game 2, with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, while shooting 8-18 from the floor in a 111-105 Knicks win.
However, that success was short-lived. Randle reverted to his old ways, going 4-15 for 10 points in an ugly Game 3 loss. He fouled out of Game 4 and committed six turnovers as the Knicks fell into a 3-1 hole. He scored 24 points and made 4-7 threes in game five as the Knicks clung to life in the series. Game 6 was more of the same from Randle. He made three of his 14 field goal attempts, and New York’s season ended on a sour note again.
In his 15 career playoff games, Julius Randle averages 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 3.9 turnovers per game. He’s shooting just 34.4 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from three. Anything close to those numbers, and the Timberwolves can kiss a deep playoff run goodbye.
Randle’s struggles are reminiscent of Karl-Anthony Towns’ early career playoff woes. Towns was ripped for poor playoff performances until he finally broke through against the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets last season before crashing out in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
After the debacle in Milwaukee, all bets are off for how long the Wolves will stick in the postseason. Julius Randle will play a huge role if the Wolves crash out in the play-in or get back to the Western Conference finals and anything in between.