One of the most exciting days of the season can be trade deadline day. For teams that are looking to make a change and have a particularly well-fitting move in the works, waiting for that trade to be made can be an exhilarating feeling. But when it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, there are plenty of reasons to doubt they will do anything of note by the deadline.
Of course, the most frequently-mentioned potential trade for this team has been the prospect of moving Julius Randle, but there have already been multiple signs that Minnesota will avoid getting rid of him at the trade deadline. The message from the organization seems to be that they want to ride out this regular season with Julius, and insiders have served to confirm this being the general feeling around Randle.
This week, Chris Finch gave a message to reporters that seemed to put the final nail in the coffin of any hopes for a Randle trade. Speaking with the media before Monday's game against the Atlanta Hawks, Finch had this to say when asked about his conversations with Tim Connelly concerning deadline deals.
"There's not a lot of talk about it," Finch said. "I think there's a lot of belief in this team internally. We think that the best solutions for ourselves are internal. I'm sure that (the front office) is active in terms of being on the phone, taking or making some calls. But I don't think there's an urgency around anything right now. I think there's probably more of an optimism about what we have here."
Finch: "Don't think there's an urgency" to make a trade
This statement from Finch lines up with what we have been hearing so far, and serves to basically put to rest all trade talk for the time being. Things can always change, especially with how unpredictable Connelly can be in business dealings at times. But we should in no way be expecting Minnesota to make a trade before the deadline.
To me, this is the best stance the Timberwolves could take given their situation. Things are starting to make a bit more sense with Randle's fit, and he is stepping up his play recently. Even still, keeping him past the deadline does not mean they will re-sign him, or that they will necessarily lose any other players this offseason.
The Wolves will basically have all the way until late June to figure out Randle's future with the team should they keep him past the deadline. He may not ultimately be who they want to have alongside Anthony Edwards in the long-term, but the Feb. 6 deadline is far from their final opportunity to do something about that.