Timberwolves trade Julius Randle to Brooklyn
· Yahoo Sports
Julius Randle is no longer a Timberwolf. Because of that, Ayo Dosunmu likely will be.
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Minnesota moved off the veteran forward in a three-team trade that sent Randle to Brooklyn and center Nic Claxton to Chicago, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press.
Minnesota is also sending the 28th pick in Tuesday’s NBA Draft to Brooklyn, while the Wolves slid back to the 33rd selection.
But the win for Minnesota is opening up cap space, as Randle’s $33.3 million salary for next season is offloaded. The Wolves now have that exact amount in a trade exception it can utilize for another move.
In the present, the Wolves opened up the space on their payroll to re-sign Dosunmu, a move that’s expected imminently as the team looks to lock up the guard it dealt for at the February trade deadline before he enters free agency in July. Minnesota can now do that while also maintaining access to its mid-level exception.
Randle had success in Minnesota. After coming to the Wolves via the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, Randle played a major role in Minnesota’s run to the Western Conference Finals in 2025 — after which Minnesota inked the forward to a three-year deal last summer — and played at an all-star level for the first half of the 2025-26 campaign.
But he struggled mightily against the conference’s elite competition and did experience emotional ups and downs as his play waxed and waned. It was also difficult for Minnesota to find consistent success with a Randle-Rudy Gobert front court pairing when Randle started to struggle with his outside shot.
His departure frees up the starting power forward spot, which Naz Reid will slide into for the first time in his career.
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