Timberwolves trade Julius Randle and first-round pick to Nets

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jun 22, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — Last month, Minnesota Timberwolves President Tim Connelly said the Wolves had to change after losing decisively to the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, two teams they may be chasing down in the Western Conference.

The made the first major move of their offseason Monday night in trading Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that also involved the Chicago Bulls.

The Nets dealt center Nic Claxton to the Bulls in the deal while receiving the Wolves’ No. 28 in Tuesday’s draft. The Wolves received Brooklyn’s No. 33 pick.

With this move, the Wolves are rid of Randle’s contract, which had two years and around $68 million remaining. The money they freed up with this move now puts them under the luxury tax, though one main motivation for the deal was to free up the necessary money to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu, whose new deal is near completion, a source said.

Dosunmu figures to make an annual salary above the non-taxpayer midlevel exception of around $15 million. Sources around the league said his figure could be around $18 million per season when a deal is done.

The move also sets up space of another kind — space in the starting lineup for Naz Reid to finally be the team’s starting power forward.

After two seasons, Randle’s Wolves tenure comes to an end after helping the team win three playoff series over that time.

Randle had his best postseason of his career in 2025, when he averaged 23.9 points and 5.9 assists in series wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

But what became clear was that Wolves couldn’t break through the ceiling guarded by the Thunder and Spurs with Randle as their second-best offensive option behind Anthony Edwards. Against the Thunder, Randle averaged 17.4 points, three assists and 3.6 turnovers in 2025 while against the Spurs in this year’s playoffs, he averaged just 12.9 points on 34% shooting with three turnovers.

The Wolves re-signed Randle to a three-year, nearly $100 million deal after the 2024-25 season following his strong playoff showing.

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