Timberwolves coach takes clear shot at Julius Randle

The Minnesota Timberwolves are fairly openly telegraphing that they are not all that upset to see Julius Randle go.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch offered up a quote about his team’s acquisition of LaMelo Ball from the Charlotte Hornets during the offseason, and it was a pretty obvious shot at Randle. Finch emphasized the amount of joy Ball brings to the Wolves, and seemingly contrasted that with what Minnesota subtracted.

“We referred to ourselves as a moody team in the last couple of years at times, and it’s probably gotten in our way. We’ve traded moodiness for giddiness, so we’ve got to kind of get back to some sort of equilibrium,” Finch said, via Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Randle and Naz Reid were the two players Minnesota traded for Ball. It was Reid who used the word “moodiness” to describe the team’s issues last season, and there was ample speculation that he was talking about Randle, who struggled to produce in the team’s second-round playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Finch’s use of the word “moodiness” certainly seems intentional. At this point, it’s pretty clear that the Timberwolves think they are engaging in addition by subtraction by trading Randle away.