Why Timberwolves Offloaded Julius Randle to Nets for Lesser Draft Pick

The Minnesota Timberwolves have traded Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team deal that also sends center Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday night.

Minnesota is giving up Randle and the No. 28 pick in Tuesday night’s NBA draft in exchange for Brooklyn's 33rd pick at the top of the second round. Randle has two years left on the three-year, $100 million contract he signed with the Wolves last offseason, which includes a $35.8 million player option in 2027–28. The Wolves shed Randle's salary in an effort to retain key free agents like Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland, and can now use that room to pursue additional players and make a leap in the competitive Western Conference. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Wolves will receive former Raptors forward Mouhamadou Gueye from the Bulls in the trade. Gueye has a $2.4 million team option for next season, which the Wolves can decline to remove that salary from their books for next year.

For Brooklyn, the franchise can absorb Randle into its cap space and put the three-time All-Star next to Michael Porter Jr. as the team looks to escape a seemingly endless rebuild. Randle, who averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game this past season with Minnesota, will be on the books in Brooklyn for two seasons, assuming he picks up the player option next year. The Nets also gain an additional first-round pick for their troubles. Brooklyn owns the sixth pick and now No. 28, parting with a pick at the top of the second round in the process.

Claxton, meanwhile, lands with the Bulls, who were thin in the frontcourt after parting with veteran big man Nikola Vučević at the trade deadline. Claxton has two years left on his four-year, $97 million contract and brings a strong presence near the rim for a palatable salary.

Why the Wolves dumped Julius Randle to Nets and moved back in the draft

On the surface, this move is a head-scratcher, but it actually makes a lot of sense for the Wolves. Randle will make $33.3 million next year and can opt into a $35.8 million salary a year from now. The only reason he’d decline his player option is if he was in for a pay raise or a long-term deal, which is unlikely as he’ll be 32 years old at that time.

Randle would be the third-highest player on the Wolves, behind only Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert, so offloading his salary opens flexibility both this season and next. Minnesota went to the Western Conference finals in two straight seasons before they were ousted by the Spurs in the second round this year. And as San Antonio is only getting better and the Thunder are still the Thunder, the Wolves have to improve their roster if they want to get over that hump in future campaigns.

Taking Randle off the books opens up space to re-sign Dosunmu to a long-term deal, which Minnesota executed following the trade. The 26-year-old was acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline and was a critical piece for Minnesota down the stretch. Hyland is a free agent, too, and had some moments that sparked the Wolves’ offense this past year. The team now has the flexibility to bring him back if President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly so chooses.

MORE: Timberwolves Offseason Preview: Will Minnesota Make Another Push for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

Jaylen Clark is a restricted free agent and has turned into a nice depth piece as a top-tier perimeter defender off the bench. The franchise would be wise to ink him to an affordable, mutually beneficial deal that keeps him on the roster for multiple years.

More interestingly, offloading Randle’s salary gives Minnesota flexibility to improve the roster externally. The trade created a $33.3 million trade exception that the franchise can use to net one or multiple players making that amount in another deal. That’s a big number, and it gives the franchise more paths forward in subsequent trades.

Minnesota was involved in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes with the Bucks at the trade deadline. With a Giannis trade likely looming, the finalists are reported to be the Heat and the Celtics. It’s unknown whether the Randle trade changes the current standings, but even if the Wolves remain out, they could use the newly created trade exception to pluck Tyler Herro from Miami and make up for the 20-point-per-game hole Randle will leave behind. Herro’s $33 million salary fits nicely into the new trade exception if Miami wants to send him out, whether or not the franchise acquires Antetokounmpo. Derrick White’s $30.3 million salary fits as well, if Boston moves off him in a bid to win the Giannis sweepstakes themselves.

The price of the offloaded salary and added flexibility is moving back five spots in the draft, which isn’t a huge price to pay for a franchise looking to win now. We’ll have to see how the Wolves’ offseason unfolds from here, with their clear need to improve the roster around Edwards and make a push in the West. Now, it’s just a matter of how they do it.

Wolves ink Ayo Dosunmu to five-year extension in aftermath of Randle trade

After the Randle deal, Charania reported that Dosunmu intends to sign a five year, $112 million contract to remain with the Wolves. He’ll have a player option on the final year of the deal, which amounts to $22.4 million annually. He had an incredible first-round series against the Nuggets where he dropped 43 points in Game 4 in a massive win that gave Minnesota a 3–1 lead in the series.

The deal keeps him with the core of Edwards, Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, while Minnesota still has room under the luxury tax and exceptions it can use to improve the roster.

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