The Timberwolves acquired Julius Randle as part of the Kar-Anthony Towns trade in the 2024 offseason, but there’s little guarantee that the former Knicks forward remains in Minnesota for the long haul.
Randle, who owns a player option worth $30.9 million for the 2025-26 season, could potentially opt out of his contract to test free agency in 2025. As such, Minnesota could preemptively trade him to avoid losing the three-time All-Star for nothing. With that backdrop, Fadeaway World’s Fran Leiva proposed a trade that would send Randle to the Warriors in exchange for a large haul of assets.
Warriors would get: Randle
Timberwolves would get: Andrew Wiggins, Trayce Jackson-Davis, 2026 First-Round Pick, 2028 First-Round Pick
Should Warriors Trade for Randle?
The writer argues that Randle could help the Warriors form a new death lineup, especially due to his ability to push the pace and dish to teammates. The Kentucky alum averaged 4.7 assists through his five seasons in New York and also improved enormously as a defender playing under Tom Thibodeau. Thibodeau regularly used Randle as a small-ball five — a role he could potentially replicate in Golden State.
“Randle’s fit, while unconventional, could be reminiscent of the small-ball units that took the Warriors to championships in the past,” Leiva wrote on October 17. “His ability to grab rebounds and push the ball in transition, much like [Draymond] Green does, would allow Golden State to maintain their up-tempo style. Although Randle’s shooting efficiency isn’t elite, his willingness to take threes would force defenses to respect his range, opening more lanes for Curry and others.”
First Half Could Dictate the Season
With Stephen Curry turning 37 in March 2025, the Warriors enter the 2024-25 season under immense pressure. They can’t afford to waste the waning prime of one of the sport’s greatest-ever guards and inarguably the best player in franchise history.
As such, several analysts have urged the Warriors to prioritize Curry’s prime over the development of the young core of Jonatha Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis. If the quartet of players does not take a significant leap in the 2024-25 season, the Warriors front office could be forced to make some difficult calls by the February 6 NBA trade deadline — their last chance to improve the roster ahead of the 2025 playoffs.
The Kuminga situation is particularly complicated since the fourth-year forward was due for an extension entering the 2024-25 season, but hadn’t received one. If the Warriors were to let the extension deadline bypass, their chances of moving Kuminga increase exponentially, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“A key player to watch is Jonathan Kuminga. He is in the middle of contract extension talks right now,” Windhorst said on the August 30 episode of ESPN’s “First Take.” “If they sign him to an extension, it’s more unlikely they trade him. However, if we get past the October deadline of an extension, and they don’t find a deal there, he becomes a high probability of being traded during the season.”
As for Podziemski, the Warriors refused to move the second-year guard, per several insiders, in a trade that would have landed them Lauri Markkanen.
If the Warriors can hold onto both Kuminga and Podz and still acquire Randle, it will be a huge win for them.
