Minnesota Timberwolves Ready to Shop Julius Randle?
The Minnesota Timberwolves will play against the Dallas Mavericks this afternoon, as part of the Christmas Day tradition of NBA games played on ESPN and ABC. When this game was scheduled, the Wolves and Mavs were coming off of a Western Conference Finals series and Minnesota was seen as a lock to battle again for a spot in the NBA Finals.
Pairing Anthony Edwards, the league’s fastest-rising superstar, vs Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic in a 2023-24 West Finals rematch was a Christmas Day no-brainer. But then, the Wolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, in exchange for Julius Randle.
Minnesota Timberwolves blockbuster trade gone wrong…
The results from that blockbuster deal have not been what Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was imagining, when he rolled up to KAT’s house nearly three months ago, to let the 30-year-old former No. 1 overall pick know he was being traded to his hometown New York Knicks.
KAT is putting up MVP numbers — 24.7 PPG | 13.9 RPG | 45.6% 3PT | 127 OFF RTG — in the Big Apple, and the Knicks are a top 3 team in the East. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves are a .500 team (14-14), entering their Christmas Day matchup vs the Mavericks, a game they are +3.5 point underdogs in.
Related: Anthony Edwards Reveals Major Issues Within “Soft as Hell” Timberwolves Locker Room
Anthony Edwards is all out of sorts, posting some of his worst numbers since he was a rookie. He sounds borderline apathetic, at times, in postgame press conferences… when he isn’t blaming refs for the Wolves ineptitude. Other players are following Ant’s lead. Nickeil Alexander-Walker even went on record complaining about fan expectations being too high. Lol.
I asked Nickeil Alexander-Walker about fan frustration over the Wolves still figuring things out at this point in the season. He gave an answer that went into the negativity the team is hearing right now from the fanbase. "You can tell that they're holding onto [last year]." https://t.co/FJsB16GJWU pic.twitter.com/Qb7BlET7ZV
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) December 24, 2024
But really, the finger pointing blame game continually lands on the new guy, Julius Randle, and for good reason. The other Kentucky product was supposed to replace much of Towns’ offensive production. Instead, Randle has proven himself to be an offensive ball-stopper who rarely shows any effort on defense.
Additionally, he and Ant have zero chemistry, even after playing together for 28 games. Chris Finch isn’t helping. The newly extended head coach remains curiously stubborn with Randle. No matter how poorly the guy plays on either end of the floor, Finch refuses to hold him accountable. He won’t cut his playing time or leave him on the bench during big moments. No consequences, whatsoever.
All of that has led to a locker room that appears broken… or at least fractured. Players don’t look like they are having fun anymore. Body language is horrible… and there is no sign that things are going to get better.
Timberwolves shopping Julius Randle before NBA trade deadline?
At this point, it has gotten so bad inside the bowels of Target Center, that rumors of another blockbuster move have started to turn into reports that, with the NBA trade deadline still six weeks away, the Minnesota Timberwolves are ready to shop Julius Randle.
According to Evan Sidery (Forbes), rival NBA executives believe Minnesota “will gauge Julius Randle’s trade value”, due to their “inconsistent start”… which is putting it way too politely.
Rival executives believe the Timberwolves will gauge Julius Randle’s trade value amidst their inconsistent start.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) December 24, 2024
With Minnesota over the second apron, Randle’s $33.1 million salary would be critical in any potential deal to help rebalance their roster around Anthony Edwards. pic.twitter.com/CZeBRzmjzQ
Entering Wednesday’s Christmas matchup, the Wolves are on a three-game losing streak, and on the verge of falling apart. This team hasn’t scored over 110 points since November 26, against the Houston Rockets, and they’ve allowed 113 points or more in each of their last six losses.
Yes, there is a lot of time before the NBA trade deadline on February 6. Unfortunately, it’s very possible that waiting until then would be too late. But what is Randle worth on the trade market, right now? It can’t be very much… which adds even more complications to making this trade work.
Related: Karl-Anthony Towns for NBA MVP…?
Sure, swapping KAT for Julius Randle was more about financials, than winning. Having Karl, Ant and Rudy Gobert on the same roster was not financially viable long-term. No matter what the plan was for Randle, whether that was to make things work in Minnesota or provide a short-term bridge… there’s only one option now. Trade him as soon as possible.
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