The connection between Julius Randle and Chris Finch can be crucial for Timberwolves

When the New York Knicks were looking for a new head coach in the summer of 2020, Julius Randle had an idea.

The franchise’s 25-year-old star began giving pointers to upper management after David Fizdale was fired midway through the season. When the season was over, Randle let everyone in the organization know who he thought would be a perfect fit for him.

“I wanted Finchy to join the staff there. I tell them, man, Finchy is a great coach,” Randle said with a big smile. “But they had their plans, what they wanted to do. But I thought to myself: Finchy would be a great coach for us. It just didn’t happen.”

Finchy was Chris Finch. At the time, he was a highly respected assistant coach whose name was just starting to make the rounds as a possible future NBA head coach. He was the offensive coordinator in New Orleans during Randle’s only season with the Pelicans, and the two achieved a level of basketball that Randle had never achieved before or since.

“It was a pleasure coaching Julius,” Finch said. “I really enjoyed working with him. Great professional. Loves being at the gym and comes in every day with a smile on his face. He is hungry for feedback. Really pleasant.”

Now the two are reunited in Minnesota, where Finch is the Timberwolves’ head coach and is tasked with integrating Randle’s style of play into the team following a blockbuster trade just before the start of training camp. At first glance, Randle doesn’t fit seamlessly with Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and the rest of a Wolves team that reached the Western Conference finals last season.

The Wolves will rely on the trust built between Finch and Randle in New Orleans to travel up the Mississippi River to Minnesota. If they can do it, this is a team that can go as far as they want in the West. The Wolves wouldn’t have traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo if they thought the deal would hurt their chances of competing. Finch’s connection to Randle played a major role in their decision to make such a significant move after they had planned to retire him.

“If anyone knows anything about me, I’m a rhythm player and Finchy does a great job of putting me in situations where I’m catching it in the flow, catching it in the rhythm, making my reads easy and just playing,” Randle said. “Don’t think too much, just play. We look at the game very unselfishly and I just try to make that contagious to the rest of the team.”

Selflessness will be paramount if this is to work.

In his five years in New York, Randle became known as a powerful isolation scorer, a deliberate player who liked to exploit the shot clock, wear down his defender and score shots. But in Minnesota, he has to move the ball to accommodate Edwards, another player who can get his shot whenever he wants.

When Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and Finch discussed team-building scenarios at meetings during their two years together, Connelly would ask the coach which players in the league he liked and didn’t like. Finch always supported Randle and felt his passing skills were often overlooked despite him scoring more than 20 points per game. Randle averaged 3.7 assists per game for his career and has delivered at least 5.0 per game in three of the last four seasons.

With an offense that finished a disappointing 17th in efficiency last season, the Wolves need a boost. DiVincenzo’s 3-point accuracy and volume numbers will be a big help, as will the expected individual improvements from Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid. But if Randle can run some of the offense, mesh with Edwards and Gobert, and also provide the physical presence at the rim that he was known for in New York and New Orleans, then the Wolves will have a chance.

When Randle arrived in New Orleans, he was on probation after four solid but unspectacular seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. His teammate Anthony Davis of the Kentucky Wildcats recruited him to New Orleans in the summer of 2018, giving him the opportunity to form an unstoppable frontcourt tandem. Randle signed a two-year deal with a player option for the second season, only to see Davis request a trade to Submarine Things in New Orleans.

In the midst of all this chaos, Randle found a soul mate in Finch. Both were talented basketball players who believed bigger things were just around the corner for them. They are calm and serious in their approach, and their competitive nature can reveal itself with a saltiness that comes to the fore when things fail.

Randle saw his scoring average increase from 16.1 points in his final season with the Lakers to 21.4 with the Pelicans. His 3-point percentage increased from 22.2 percent to 34.4 and his free throw attempts increased from 5.2 per game to 6.7.

“He is a great communicator and knows how to get the best out of his players,” Randle said. “So I remember playing for him there and I always felt super prepared for the games because I knew what was going to happen, where I was going to get my shots from and what he needed from me.”

The belief in Randle’s ability to move the ball has some statistical support.

In his five seasons with the Knicks, Randle ranked second, first, first, second and second in passes per game, according to NBA.com. He also finished in the top two in assists in each of those seasons, including a career-high average of 6.0 per game in 2020-21, his first All-Star season. Even when Jalen Brunson arrived and essentially took over the role of primary scorer for the Knicks’ offense, Randle still managed to be one of the team’s most active ball movers.

“What’s probably overlooked is the playmaking,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “When you average almost five assists per game, you make a lot of plays. The rating is obvious. The recovery is obvious. Whatever role you ask him to play, he will do it. I think winning is very important to him.”

In his final two seasons in New York, Randle played alongside Brunson, a heavily used All-NBA-caliber guard, and Mitchell Robinson, a huge center who operated almost exclusively on or near the sidelines on offense. Things were going great last season, just before he suffered a shoulder injury in January. The Knicks had won 12 of their last 14 games and moved up in the Eastern Conference. Randle played a prominent role during that time, averaging 24.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists.

Randle said his ISO score is more a result of what the Knicks’ roster needs from him. Now that he’s in Minnesota, he’s looking forward to distributing the ball even more and helping Minnesota’s offense compete with the best defenses.

“I’ve always liked to say that I’m more of a passer than a scorer,” Randle said. “This is what I really enjoy doing. That’s how I grew up playing basketball.”

Randle played in only one preseason game for the Wolves, which was part of the plan as he returned from a shoulder injury that ended his final season with the Knicks in late January. He’s healthy now, but it will likely take a while for him to fully adjust to his new team, starting Tuesday night with the season opener in Los Angeles against the Lakers, another former team of his.

Towns was here for nine years and his style of play is completely different than Randle’s. Towns hit his 3-point shot on the floor and drove it to the rim for Gobert finishes or dump offs. Randle is not the 3-point shooter like Towns, he prefers to work in the midfield and play aggressive shots at the rim. He also has the ability to drive and kick to get shooters open on the perimeter.

Point guard Mike Conley said there were moments in practice where they were surprised by Randle’s ability to advance and initiate the ball in transition.

“You have to get used to your big guy bringing the ball up, making plays, having the guards run to the corner and letting them do that and giving them that freedom,” Conley said. “We had to step aside a few times and push him in different places to get him to understand his spacing for us. That’s been the learning curve so far.”

As they get along, Randle feels welcome in his new surroundings. There’s more wiggle room in Minnesota than in New York, a pace of life he compared to that of his native Texas. He has found a hungry group of competitors in the locker room, eager to build on last season’s success.

“Everyone can be themselves, the best version of themselves. We all fit together very well,” said Randle. “It’s a good group of people. They have done more than just a great job making me feel comfortable here.”

Randle couldn’t bring Finch to New York all those years ago. The Knicks hired Thibodeau, who was a success. Still, Randle said he would continue to receive regular messages from Finch over the years, checking in with him and offering little observations.

“He texted me to get my ass to attack the rim. He thought I was settling for too many jumpers,” Randle said. “He said, ‘You’ve always been at your best when you’re going downhill and attacking the rim.’ Just that relationship and that trust that I always had with him.”

Finch added: “Always kept an eye on him and just enjoyed his success in New York, especially in the beginning when he was helping turn around a franchise that needed someone to come in there and do some work. I was thrilled at the opportunity to be with him again just because of that connection.”

Randle has a player option in his contract next year, meaning he can become a free agent next summer. He turns 30 next month and is no doubt imagining another long-term contract. In some ways, it’s similar to when Randle came to New Orleans in 2018 on a two-year deal that included a player option for the second season.

“If I go“After New Orleans, Finchy just gave me a lot more confidence and opportunity,” Randle said, “and I just took it and ran with it.”

Now they have to do it again.

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(Photo by Chris Finch and Julius Randle: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)