NBA
Julius Randle’s Timberwolves Debut Revealed
Former New York Knicks star Julius Randle is finally set to run with the Wolves.
Per veteran NBA insider Chris Haynes, Randle will don a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey for the first time on Wednesday in a preseason game against the Chicago Bulls (8 p.m. ET, Bally Sports North). Randle was one of the headlining pieces of the deal that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to Manhattan and was shipped to Minneapolis along with Donte DiVincenzo.
Wednesday will thus mark the first time that Randle has taken the floor for any kind of NBA action since Jan. 27, when he left a win over Miami with a shoulder injury that proved to be season-ending. He missed the last three months of the regular season as well as the whole playoff trip.
Randle received a proper metropolitan farewell on Sunday when the Timberwolves visited Madison Square Garden for a preseason game. In five seasons with the Knicks, he averaged 22.6 points and 9.9 rebounds while reaching three All-Star Games and two All-NBA teams. But, having missed out on both a championship and a long-term contract with the Knicks despite several other individual and team-based accomplishments, Randle spoke about having “unfinished business” in Minneapolis.
“My whole thing has always been since the day I got here is control what you can control,” Randle said on Sunday, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “If that opportunity presented itself, I would’ve been ready for it. It didn’t,” Randle said. “Honestly, I’m really happy and excited and blessed. I’ve got unfinished business here. And that’s what I’m choosing to focus on.”
Randle and the Timberwolves will return to MSG on Jan. 17 for their annual interconference visit. In the meantime, the Knicks (3-0) will partake in their penultimate preseason game on Tuesday when the Charlotte Hornets come to visit.