With the Minnesota Timberwolves approaching a month since they were eliminated from the playoffs, they are still reminded of a blockbuster trade they made in the 2024 offseason. That is, of course, the Karl-Anthony Towns deal. KAT is two wins away from winning a title with the New York Knicks.
The key piece that was traded back to Minnesota, Julius Randle, is coming off a terrible postseason. On The Dane Moore NBA Podcast, guest Kyle Theige spoke about how the trade can be even worse for Minnesota when talking about a potential Randle trade.
“If they do ultimately have to attach a pick (#28) to move Julius, I think we need to acknowledge that’s a huge f—k up." Theige said. "That ultimately changes how I will forever think of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. Because the Karl-Anthony Towns trade was made to be more flexible.”
It’s going to be an interesting offseason for the Wolves with much talk surrounding the team getting rid of Randle.
Flexibility that the trade was supposed to provide is mostly now non-existent
While the two main pieces in that 2024 trade are Towns and Randle, the Wolves also acquired Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick that became Joan Beringer. Giving up a first in this year’s draft to get rid of Randle, when you don’t even have access to many of your future picks, would not be a good look and essentially cancel out gaining one for Towns.
The flexibility that was supposed to come with unloading Towns’ contract is just not there. Randle re-signed last offseason on a three-year, $100 million deal. They were unable to afford to bring back Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Minnesota is expected to be an apron team again as long as they bring back Ayo Dosunmu, and they will not be able to be major players otherwise in free agency.
Theige was talking about a hypothetical trade of Randle to the Brooklyn Nets, and he does state that he doesn’t believe the Timberwolves will need to attach that pick.
It’s possible they will have to, though. Skipping exit interviews and not speaking to the media after Minnesota was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs didn’t help the narrative that he’s a mercurial player/person. That couldn’t have helped his trade value.
For his production (at least in the regular season), the 31-year-old has a fair contract. He’s signed for $33.33 million next season and has a player option for $35.8 million in 2027-28. With anti-tanking measures starting next season, more teams (like the Nets) should be looking to improve. Randle would help them do so.
While it’s hard to find a bunch of suitors for an imperfect star like Randle, I tend to agree with Theige in that Minnesota should be able to make a trade without that first-round pick. At the same time, though, the Timberwolves may find it hard to find equal value for a player that nearly the entire fan base wants traded.
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