Plenty of rumors, but no moves for Timberwolves at NBA trade deadline

The 2025 NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and it was one of the wilder deadlines in league history. Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, De'Aaron Fox, and several other All-Stars changed teams in dramatic fashion over the last week.

But not every team got involved. The Timberwolves, who completed a blockbuster trade prior to the start of the season, elected not to do anything. There were rumors and calls and different scenarios out there, but president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and company didn't wind up making any moves before the 2 p.m. central time deadline passed on Thursday.

Timberwolves are standing pat, per sources. Lot of calls, a lot of scenarios, but nothing out there to be completed. This is their team going forward the rest of the season.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 6, 2025

That means the Wolves, sitting at 28-23 and in seventh place in the loaded Western Conference, will move forward with what they have. That includes Julius Randle, who was one of the main pieces acquired in the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks in late September. Randle will be out through at least the All-Star break with an adductor strain, but upon returning, he'll remain a big part of Minnesota's push to avoid the play-in tournament and make a run in the postseason.

Most of the rumors or speculation involving the Wolves surrounded Randle, who is making $33 million this year and has a $31 million player option next season. If he elects to pick up that option, it could complicate the futures of Naz Reid and/or Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who are both due for major raises in the summer. But those who cover the Wolves were adamant that Randle wasn't going to be moved as a salary dump. If he was going to be traded, the team needed to get good value back, and that was always going to be difficult to pull off.

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Randle could still be moved next offseason; his presence on the roster post-deadline does not suddenly mean Reid isn't a part of the Wolves' future plans. But things could get interesting in the summer for a team that moved Towns largely for financial flexibility reasons. The Wolves already have Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels signed to big long-term contracts.

Whether involving Randle or anyone else, the Wolves' trade possibilities were limited by the restrictions of being over the NBA's second luxury tax apron. They weren't allowed to take back a cent more in salary than they sent out, and they couldn't bundle players to pull off a deal for a major star. They also have no room to now add anyone in the buyout market.

Not even a minor move, like the one that brought Monte Morris to Minnesota at last year's deadline, materialized for the Wolves. Their team is their team for the rest of this season. It's been an up-and-down road, but there have been some encouraging recent signs; the Wolves have gone 11-6 over the last month after a 17-17 start. With players like Jaylen Clark and Rob Dillingham showing flashes, it'll be interesting to see what the rotation ultimately looks like when Randle and Donte DiVincenzo (toe) return from their injuries.

The Wolves take on the 32-18 Houston Rockets tonight at Target Center.

Only four teams didn't make a deal before the deadline this year:

Trail Blazers
Magic
Nuggets
Timberwolves
— Automatic (@automaticnba) February 6, 2025