The 2025 NBA postseason has unmistakably been shaped by trades — deals that landed big man Karl-Anthony Towns in New York, All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana and future league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City. Among the four remaining teams, however, no trade was more high-risk, high-reward than the Minnesota Timberwolves' decision last September, coming off one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, to send Towns, a franchise cornerstone, to the Knicks. In one way, it was a reaction to the NBA's year-old collective bargaining agreement, which makes it more difficult to keep together expensive, deep rosters for long by taking away top-spending teams' ability to draft and make trades. Towns was set to begin a four-year contract worth more than $220 million, and the players Minnesota received, reserve guard Donte DiVincenzo and forward Julius Randle, earned less this season than Towns combined. The financial flexibility in the trade, "allows them to remake the team around Anthony Edwards" in the long-term, saidChris Hine, the longtime Timberwolves beat writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. But the move was also effectively a belief that Towns' big-man replacement in the deal, Randle, could serve as a reasonable facsimile. It represented a gamble: that Randle, a regular-season All-Star whose history of postseason struggles had soured his time in New York, could help push a Timberwolves franchise with its own lack of playoff history over the top and into the team's first Finals. Minnesota trails Oklahoma City, 1-0, in the Western Conference finals, but Randle has remade his postseason reputation, averaging 24.3 points with 5.5 assists while making 58 percent of his 2-pointers and nearly 40 percent of his 3-pointers. The Timberwolves have made conference finals in consecutive seasons for the first time. "I don't get into the narratives of having something to prove, the only thing I want to prove is I'm a winner," Randlesaidafter Minnesota beat Golden State in a second-round series in five games. In these playoffs, Randle has shot50 percenton nearly 100 possessions when guarded primarily by LeBron James during the first round, and shot 58 percent when guarded by perennial defensive player of the year candidate Draymond Green during the second. Overall, Randle has attempted fewer three-pointers but made more, and handled the ball less but generated more points. In the Game 1 loss to Oklahoma City, Randle scored 20 of Minnesota's 48 points at halftime. The turnaround was most evident against Golden State. In Game 3, with the series tied, Randle produced a triple double despite a poor-shooting performance by assisting on 12 baskets. He averaged 25 points during the series. On the approximately 105 possessions in which Green guarded Randle, the Timberwolves scored 105 points, and Randle shot 58 percent, according toNBA data. "I lost my matchup," Green said onhis podcast,adding it was something that had happened only one other time during his lengthy postseason career. "Julius was incredible. And honestly some of the shots he was taking was shots that you want him to take and he made them. ... I got to give it to him, man. He got the better of me." The 30-year-old Randle — the No. 7 pick in the 2014 draft —entered the NBA with expectations that he could produce like this, only to have them immediately undercut; 14 minutes into his NBA debut, he broke his leg. It wasn't until his sixth season, in New York, that he became a team's top offensive option. It led to the first of his three All-Star appearances with the Knicks. Yet Randle was criticized for making 34.4% of his shots during two postseason runs with the Knicks — well below his 47.1% career average. Last September, he called the trade a "breath of fresh air," but it came with immediate struggles. He averaged 18.7 points per game, his lowest average in eight seasons, and wasn't an All-Star for the first time in three. When the Timberwolves started the season an unremarkable 8-10 their star guard, Edwards, made a remarkable admission. "We playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team," EdwardssaidNov. 27. "We just can't talk to each other. And we've got to figure it out." How the Pacers pulled off a comeback never seen before in NBA history 'Best time ever to be a New Yorker': Spike Lee, Fat Joe and others reflect on an iconic Knicks run Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA Most Valuable Player award The transformation took place gradually. Where Randle focused on scoring during his first months with Minnesota, upon returning from a groin injury in early March, he was playing a point-forward role devised by coach Chris Finch. Minnesota was 17-4 after Randle's return from injury, a stretch that turned a team of ill-fitting parts into that would beat the Lakers and Warriors in consecutive rounds in five games. "Randle points to his injury as helping him gain some perspective on how the offense should operate," Hine said. "He saw how well the Wolves were doing on that end of the floor when they could generate good ball movement. After trying to find the right balance between scoring and distributing, he shifted more toward the playmaking end of that dynamic, and that made a big difference for him and the Wolves." Since Jan. 22, Minnesota is 30-7 with Randle in the lineup, and 14 points better offensively with him on the court (though also seven points worse defensively). "I think his relationship with Chris Finch played a big part" of Randle getting comfortable, Hine said. "The two knew each other dating back to when they were both in New Orleans. Randle came in praising Finch's coaching ability and how great their year was together from his opening press conference. "Despite frustration in the fan base with Randle's fit, Finch always stood by Randle, kept telling him they would figure it all out, and sure enough they did. I think his re-emergence is a credit to Finch having that relationship and patience with him, and a credit to Randle for sticking with it when other players might have given up."
