Julius Randle was set to decide whether to opt in or opt out of a $31 million player option on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Wolves and Randle were working hard to get a deal done before the deadline hit.
Randle will opt out of his contract and sign a new three-year, $100 million deal with the Wolves, a source confirmed. There is a player option for the third year.
Both sides expressed a mutual desire to get a deal done as the season went on. Randle played some of the best basketball of his career this season under coach Chris Finch and was a key reason the Wolves advanced to the Western Conference finals. He and his family are happy in Minnesota, while the Wolves liked how Randle fit in with the team since acquiring him and Donte DiVincenzo in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade with the Knicks before the start of last season.
Even amid the team’s early season struggles, Randle was never the scapegoat for that within the orgnaization; the whole team had to play better was the view. Finch was always a proponent of Randle’s ability to morph into a point forward that could lift the offense not just with his scoring, but with his playmaking. That vision took hold when Randle came back from a groin injury in the final quarter of the season.
The Wolves finished 17-4 over their last 21 games with Randle. Randle averaged 18.2 points and 5.2 assists over that span.
Then in the playoffs, Randle was the Wolves’ most consistent player through two rounds. In the two series against the Lakers and Warriors he averaged 23.9 points and 5.9 assists before he and the vicious Thunder defense ground him and the rest of the Wolves offense to a halt in the Western Conference finals.