The Timberwolves fell to the NBA Champion Thunder and were eliminated in the Conference Finals for the second straight year. But the organization is taking steps to keep the core together, with ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting that Julius Randle intends to sign a new three-year deal worth $100 million. The deal will hold a player option for the 2027-28 season.
Randle was traded to Minnesota last offseason along with Donte DiVincenzo in a deal built around Karl-Anthony Towns. This was a rare trade in which both teams benefited as New York made its deepest postseason run in over 25 years while Minnesota benefited from Randle’s self-creation alongside Anthony Edwards.
Across the regular season, Randle averaged 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. He has not had his best moments in the postseason in the past, but the three-time All-Star delivered in his first with Minnesota. In 15 playoff games, Randle averaged 21.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists and joined Kevin Garnett as the only player in franchise history to log a postseason triple-double.
This is an interesting extension that leaves Randle as trade-eligible throughout. With the first year’s salary not exceeding 120% of the salary and it being less than a four-year extension, Randle could theoretically be traded at any point. One would imagine this extension is still with the desire to keep the current core together, as Randle proved his worth during the home stretch of the season. Minnesota also recently signed Naz Reid to a five-year $125 million deal earlier this week.
Timberwolves futures odds movement
The NBA offseason is just getting off to the races, and there will be plenty of moves across the league and likely on this Timberwolves team. As things currently stand, Minnesota holds the fifth-shortest odds in the league at +1300 to win the NBA Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook. The T-Wolves also hold the third-shortest odds at +750 of winning the Western Conference and +280 odds to make it to the Conference Finals.
While the original trade was made with financial implications in mind and driven by the desire to get off of Karl-Anthony Towns’ monstrous contract, Randle has proven his worth to the Timberwolves. The team has coughed up some serious cash already this offseason but will be searching for some small changes moving forward to get over the Conference Finals hurdle that has tripped them up for two consecutive seasons.
