One of the first trade dominos dropped Monday evening, but it wasn’t what everyone was waiting for. Well, everyone outside of Minnesota at least. ESPN‘s Shams Charania announced that the Timberwolves are salary dumping Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets, attaching pick number 28 in tomorrow’s draft in order to do so.
The loss of Randle was to be expected.
It was speculated that after his name was included in trade rumors for Giannis Antetokounmpo last February, he had somewhat checked out. It was evident in his play to end the regular season, and even more so in the postseason. If it wasn’t clear that his days in Minnesota were numbered by then, he skipped exit interviews altogether.
The “return” that Minnesota’s President of Basketball Operations, Tim Connelly, for being able to ship out Randle might seem lackluster at first. No matter what your opinion is of Randle and his final months in a Wolves jersey, this is still a multi-time All-NBA and All-Star player who is in the middle of his prime. He had a huge hand in defeating both the Lakers and Warriors during the Wolves 2025 playoff run. Next year, bottom-feeding teams hoping to avoid the “relegation zone” will enjoy the extra regular season wins that the 31-year-old will likely bring. He is set to make a somewhat modest 20% of the salary cap this upcoming year, as well as a player option for the same amount in the 2027-2028 season.
Having to attach a late first round pick doesn’t look great for a guy who was the featured return for recent NBA champion, Karl-Anthony Towns.
That said, it is clear as day that Randle’s fit with this iteration of the Timberwolves had been clunky, and somehow became even clunkier. His lack of consistent effort and focus on the defensive end, as well as his tunnel-vision style of offense, has been maddening for Minnesota fans to watch. He was rendered useless in the final playoff series for the Wolves the last two years. Being able to shed his salary to gear up for bigger moves has to be considered a win.
Minnesota does acquire the 33rd pick of the draft (second round taking place on Wednesday), and that should be of note as well. Will Connelly just send it away for another seven-foot giant, future seconds and cash considerations like he did with the 31st pick last year? Or will he draft a future three-time MVP? 50-50, I’d say.
This now sets the stage for the Wolves to have lots of wiggle room to handle the negotiation of unrestricted free agent, Ayo Dosunmu. A player who Connelly publicly announced as their highest priority this summer. Perhaps most exciting will be the fact that Naz Reid‘s time as a bench player has finally come to an end. Unless the Wolves make another dramatic move this summer, the former Sixth Man of the Year will finally be able to take center stage along with the core of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.
It’s thrilling to think about what Minnesota will look like now. Reid isn’t without his own flaws, especially on the defensive end. However, advanced metrics has long been favorable to the pairing of Reid and Gobert for multiple seasons now. The Wolves will inevitably be playing with more offensive pace as well.
The future is now.
