The exchange between the Knicks and the Wolves made official, the managers and coaches can come out of the silence, like Chris Finch. The Wolves coach spent the summer working on systems with Karl-Anthony Towns, and here he is recovering Julius Randle And Donte DiVincenzo. He knows the first very well since he encountered him at the Pelicans when he was an assistant to Alvin Gentry.
“He’s a super professional and a joy to coach” remembers the Minnesota coach. “Having coached Julius before, I think a lot of the things we did in New Orleans still hold true here. I think he's looking forward to it. We think Donte will fit right in, the way he plays and shoots. His basketball IQ, ability to cut to the rim, move around and play without the ball are all assets we need. This will be very useful to us immediately. »
Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo will fit in easily
So Karl-Anthony Towns, whom he considers “the best player he has coached”, brought outside shooting, Chris Finch considers that Julius Randle brings additional creative capacity.
“What I know about him is that he is an incredible creator who really knows how to pass” reacted the coach. “He can make any pass on the field. He can handle the ball on pick-and-rolls. For several seasons, he has played as a power forward alongside classic pivots. It's not like he's being asked to play a different position or in a completely different squad. I don't see many problems. »
Levers for the future
Regarding the trade itself, he believes the Wolves come out on top. “Our owner was committed and still is committed to paying significant taxes for this team to be highly competitive. “That hasn't changed.” notes Chris Finch. “This exchange, as a whole, meets many criteria. We think this is a great exchange from a basketball perspective. We believe it makes us stronger in many ways and we needed that. It gives us flexibility and leverage to continue to reshape the team in the future. It is above all this together which motivated this exchange. But that doesn't change our expectations going into the season. We still have a very, very talented squad, the same core as last year and we have two great weapons to add to that.”
