Three-time All-Star Timberwolves forward Julius Randle has emerged as perhaps the most intriguing potential free agent of the 2025 offseason, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
After trading five-time All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to New York in exchange for Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, the quickly-cut Keita Bates-Diop and draft equity, few expected to see Minnesota back in the Western Conference Finals for 2024/25. Instead, the Timberwolves returned there for the second straight season, in large part thanks to Randle’s efforts through 4-1 series wins against the Lakers and Warriors.
Bringing in Randle and DiVincenzo for Towns helped Minnesota bring in major playmaking help around incumbent All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards. The deal also gave the Timberwolves significantly more ability to re-sign free agent wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker and potential free agent Naz Reid this summer.
Sources inform Fischer that the Timberwolves value Randle’s efficacy to score downhill and pass from the post as making him a better fit next to Edwards than Towns had been.
Randle has a $30.9MM player option for 2025/26. Fischer notes that his skillset did seem to mesh well with Edwards, and that it may make sense for Minnesota to hope it can retain him in case it wants to include his contract in a trade for, say, Kevin Durant in a potential deal down the line.
There’s more from Minnesota:
2024 Sixth Man of the Year big Naz Reid is expected to decline his $15.1MM player option and hit unrestricted free agency, per Fischer. Although far more teams are projected to have major cap space next summer as opposed to 2025, he could earn some long-term security on a new deal now. Reid had a solid run during the 2024/25 regular season, but was a bit inconsistent during the playoffs.
According to Fischer, the Timberwolves reached out to at least one Eastern Conference squad in an effort to get help acquiring Kevin Durant from the Suns before the trade deadline. Minnesota’s interest in the 15-time All-Star appears to have been significant. The 2014 MVP may no longer be quite the defender he was during his Oklahoma City/Golden State prime, and he may be in his third straight unhappy team situation, but he remains one of the best scorers in the game today, even at the relatively advanced age of 36. After Phoenix finished outside of the playoff mix with a 36-46 record, it seems quite possible a Durant trade could be on the table again this summer.
In case you missed it, Orlando is expected to potentially get into the bidding for Alexander-Walker this summer.