Fast forward a few months, and Minnesota is headed back to the conference finals in no small part because of Randle, who continued the best stretch of basketball of his postseason -- and probably professional -- life with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting on Wednesday as the Wolves eliminated the Warriors in five games.

Julius Randle has only been a part of the Timberwolves for a year, but he has looked the part of being the team's veteran star alongside a young Ant Edwards.

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be hosting Golden State Warriors in Game 5 in the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday, May 14th at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Aaron Gordon might be the gold standard of the "struggling leading man to role player" transformation right now. After never finding his place in Orlando, he has become Mr. Nugget in Denver by giving up the on-ball portion of his offensive game,

That’s my guy,’ Randle said, ‘… just his trust and belief in me, the ability to adjust throughout the season.’