Julius Randle Reportedly Intends to Sign 3-Year, $100M Wolves Contract Ahead of NBA FA
Julius Randle will be with the Minnesota Timberwolves beyond just the 2024-25 season.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday he "intends to sign a new three-year, $100 million deal to stay" with Minnesota. The deal will feature a 2027-28 player option.
The writing seemed to be on the wall for this move, as NBA insider Jake Fischer reported the expectation was Minnesota would give Randle a long-term deal after it agreed to one with Naz Reid.
Randle came to the Timberwolves along with Donte DiVincenzo as part of the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks. However, he previously had a player option for the 2025-26 season, meaning it could have been just a one-year addition for Minnesota without this new contract agreement.
Now he can chase titles alongside Anthony Edwards in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.
While Randle previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans, he took significant strides with the Knicks. He made the All-Star Game in three of his five seasons with the team and was an All-NBA selection twice.
One of those All-NBA selections came in 2022-23 when he averaged a career-best 25.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from deep.
He was building on that performance in 2023-24 as an All-Star again but was ultimately limited to just 46 games because of a shoulder injury that required surgery.
That was the backdrop as he joined a Timberwolves team in championship-or-bust mode after making the Western Conference Finals in 2024.
He responded by averaging 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from deep in his first season with Minnesota.
Randle was then even more dangerous as a scorer in the playoffs as he helped lead the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals while averaging 21.7 points per game.
Minnesota jumping on the chance to sign him beyond just one season comes as no surprise, as Randle is 30 years old and figures to be a key part in future championship pursuits.
The presence of Edwards means he also won't be asked to carry the offense for extended stretches like he was at times for the Knicks.
His ability to take advantage of the space that comes with playing alongside Edwards while playing in the frontcourt with a defensive force like Rudy Gobert will determine how successful he is with the Timberwolves over the course of this contract, and he now has more time to adjust to the team with this deal.
