After the Minnesota Timberwolves were eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals by the San Antonio Spurs, many expected Julius Randle to be dealt in the offseason. The three-time All-Star had a miserable series, and a trade came to fruition on Monday night, as Randle was shipped to the Brooklyn Nets.
As frustrating as he could be to the fan base, Randle was still the team’s second scoring option. Minnesota already knows it will be without Donte DiVincenzo for a long time after he tore his Achilles.
On the most recent episode of The Hoop Collective, Tim MacMahon shared his concerns about the Wolves now being without both of them.
“We’re looking a team that has gone conference finals, conference finals, second round.” MacMahon said. “Their depth is significantly depleted because they’re losing their #2 offensive option and they’re going to plug Naz Reid in the starting lineup…and then they’re losing their best volume 3-point shooter in DiVincenzo. Those are 2 high-quality starters that the Wolves aren’t going to have next season.”
Will losing Randle (in essentially a salary dump) hurt more than the fans realize?
Depth could be a concern
The Timberwolves haven’t exactly been a team of late to showcase a ton of depth. Despite advancing past the first round for three straight years, Chris Finch often went to an eight-man rotation during the playoffs over that time.
Now, they are without DiVincenzo, who started all 82 games last season, and Randle, who started the first 79 outings. They will have Ayo Dosunmu for all of next season after trading for him in February, but there’s still a huge part of their team from last year that won’t be around.
Part of trading Randle is the belief in Naz Reid to become the full-time starting power forward and Jaden McDaniels to perhaps fill the role as second scoring option (barring further moves by the Timberwolves). They can also play Joan Beringer, the 17th overall pick in 2025, more minutes sans Randle. It’s okay to have belief that all these things will work out, but we haven’t seen it yet.
It’s debatable for a team that has Anthony Edwards if DiVincenzo is the club’s best volume 3-point shooter, but he has still connected on 418 shots from beyond the arc in his two years with Minnesota. The Timberwolves finished middle of the pack (14th) in 2025-26 in 3-pointers made, and that was with DiVincenzo playing in all 82.
The Wolves do have some wriggle room now to add outside help this offseason in free agency by unloading Randle’s contract. Right now, the depth is a bit of a concern, but we will see if that’s still the case come the 2026-27 regular season opener.
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