The 2025 NBA trade deadline has come, and it has passed. And when the clock hit 2:00 PM in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Timberwolves had not completed any trades. Frankly, this was the expected result.
We had seen hints of this outcome for weeks now. There was the buzz coming from those close to the team that it would be a shock if a trade was completed, especially concerning Julius Randle. The feeling was that the team wanted to continue figuring out what they have for now, with the understanding that they can still make a push for the top six of the playoffs, if not higher.
This direction was also basically confirmed by Chris Finch himself. When asked about changes at the deadline, he referenced the team looking more at internal improvements than at external improvements. Basically, the writing was on the wall that the Wolves were going to roll with what they currently have.
Minnesota was smart to be patient at the deadline
It may not be the popular opinion, but I believe this was the correct choice for this team at the current juncture. The motivation behind making a move to deal Julius Randle would have likely been centered around salary dumping him, and that was never going to be the best move. Yes, going without Randle the rest of the season would have given Naz Reid his full-time starting opportunity, but it also would have forced the Timberwolves to work much harder if they were still hoping to make the playoffs.
Like it or not, Randle has been mostly a positive for this team, and especially so in the last month or so. His contributions were certainly missed in the losses to Washington and Sacramento. I understand the sentiment behind wanting to ultimately find a better fit in the frontcourt moving forward, but doing it in such a rushed manner during the middle of the season seemed to be a recipe for disaster.
Randle was basically the Timberwolves' only obvious trade candidate on the roster. There were some suggestions of finding a Nickeil Alexander-Walker trade, but it would not have made sense unless you were able to bring in someone the caliber of, say, DeAndre Hunter. As Finch noted, it is likely that Minnesota's brass did their due diligence, and we know Tim Connelly was working his hardest. But they were never going to force the issue if nothing made sense, and the Timberwolves will be better off simply letting the cake continue to bake.