The Wolves just had a major scare as their latest addition, Julius Randle, saw red for a few seconds against the Mavericks tonight. In what was a block attempt on Naji Marshall, the two fell to the floor, with JR ending up with a bloodied nose!

The former Knick stayed on the floor for quite some time in obvious pain. The hooper was then taken to the locker room for further examination. In his place, Rudy Gobert checked in. Take a look at the clip below. “Julius Randle looks to be in a lot of pain,” Nadine Babu, CEO at BSN, tweeted on X. She then later added that Julius was back on the bench after a while and “appears to be ok.”

And per UnderdogNBA, Julius Randle checked back into the game with 9:19 left in the fourth quarter. As the Mavericks extended their win to 3-1 with tonight’s 120-114 victory, the Wolves 2nd top scorer, Randle, had 20 points as he shot 7-of-13 from the field and was a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown, along with 7 assists and rebounds each in 35 minutes.

Needless to say, it was the rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals and the Wolves were hoping to make a stand. However, their strong start did not last long, despite Daniel Gafford and Luka Doncic leaving the matchup briefly with an apparent lower leg injury. In fact, Anthony Edwards went scoreless in the second quarter, attempting just one shot.

Kyrie did a tremendous job of keeping the offense afloat and, with Doncic’s comeback in the second half, the Mavs made short work of Minnesota. Circling back to Randle, it seems despite the sudden move from NY, the 29-year-old has taken a liking to the Wolves.

Julius Randle could see himself as a Wolf for the foreseeable future!

The biggest concern with the shuffling of the roster so close to the start of the 2024-25 season was chemistry. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns had built quite a friendship in Minnesota. And with the insane postseason run last year, nobody expected the Wolves to do something as drastic as the trade they just engaged in with the Knicks. But it isn’t just all sports. There is a business side to things, and it is a rude awakening. Nonetheless, it looks like Julius Randle has no problem looking at the positive side.

“Julius loves it here. There is even some buzz behind the scenes. He is very open-minded, already, to signing a contract extension here. [He] has the player option for next year, but, like his family already is loving things in the west metro,” Darren Wolfson of Skor North said recently.

While it is great to know that the 3x All-Star is settling in well, extension talks might be something the front office would engage in seriously a little further down the line. The luxury tax situation, which was what led to Karl-Anthony Towns’ move in the first place, might once again be a stumbling block here, as well.

Randle’s $30.9 million cap hit and upcoming player option mean that securing him long-term could push the team further into luxury tax territory, the same factor that influenced KAT’s departure. However, with Randle’s positive outlook on Minnesota and his family adjusting well, a future extension seems feasible, provided the front office can balance roster cohesion with financial sustainability.