Phenom wrote: ↑Sun Jun 29, 2025 7:27 pm
Randle doesnt have to finish his contract here and Towns value will probably just go down as his salary jacks up. TC could very well be keeping door #3 in his back pocket and may not have had that if Towns was still here.
I just think a lot of us were excited to see a bigger role for some of the other players (Jaden, Shannon, Dillingham) and this makes that process more difficult/slows it down.
It doesn't have to be that way. We'll see how intentional Finchy is with more time to acclimate the roster.
Well, yes and no. Assuming Randle is still on the squad when camp opens, he isn't that useful as a player unless he is getting touches and on the ball quite a bit. He isn't a good enough shooter/cutter/hustler/rebounder to be a good off-ball starter so he simply HAS to get a certain amount of touches and for the offense to somewhat revolve around him as one of the main hubs when he's on the floor.
That means by definition others are getting less shots, less assists, and less offensive touches.
That being said, Finch simply has to find a way to expand the rotation, play Julius a couple less minutes per night, and while he's out there build off some of the progress we saw late last season in diversifying the offense.
But he's not suddenly going to become Amen Thompson or Al Horford.
kekgeek wrote: ↑Sun Jun 29, 2025 8:10 pm
Julius Randle may still be trade-eligible based on the extension terms.
No six month trade restriction if all three are met:
No more than four years (including 2024-25)
First year salary doesn’t exceed 120% of previous salary
Raises/declines don’t exceed 5%
-Saw this on Twitter and Jon K confirmed
I reported this back a couple pages ago... But I did not have the nice checkmarks!
My bad Tim, I missed that. Hand up!
No problem! Some of these things need to be mention multiple times. I mean, Lip still doesn't realize Beringer has not been included in the hoopshype list of salaries. I think it needs to be mentioned a few more times...
I just think a lot of us were excited to see a bigger role for some of the other players (Jaden, Shannon, Dillingham) and this makes that process more difficult/slows it down.
It doesn't have to be that way. We'll see how intentional Finchy is with more time to acclimate the roster.
Well, yes and no. Assuming Randle is still on the squad when camp opens, he isn't that useful as a player unless he is getting touches and on the ball quite a bit. He isn't a good enough shooter/cutter/hustler/rebounder to be a good off-ball starter so he simply HAS to get a certain amount of touches and for the offense to somewhat revolve around him as one of the main hubs when he's on the floor.
That means by definition others are getting less shots, less assists, and less offensive touches.
That being said, Finch simply has to find a way to expand the rotation, play Julius a couple less minutes per night, and while he's out there build off some of the progress we saw late last season in diversifying the offense.
But he's not suddenly going to become Amen Thompson or Al Horford.
He has facilitating chops, however, that can open things up for others to actually get more shots. We saw glimpses of that down the stretch of the regular season. That's the optimal usage for him.
Phenom wrote: ↑Sun Jun 29, 2025 7:27 pm
Randle doesnt have to finish his contract here and Towns value will probably just go down as his salary jacks up. TC could very well be keeping door #3 in his back pocket and may not have had that if Towns was still here.
I just think a lot of us were excited to see a bigger role for some of the other players (Jaden, Shannon, Dillingham) and this makes that process more difficult/slows it down.
This, and I really think we needed another ball handler who could get us into our offense and not turn the ball over.
I reported this back a couple pages ago... But I did not have the nice checkmarks!
My bad Tim, I missed that. Hand up!
No problem! Some of these things need to be mention multiple times. I mean, Lip still doesn't realize Beringer has not been included in the hoopshype list of salaries. I think it needs to be mentioned a few more times...
60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Jun 29, 2025 3:57 pm
Another interesting tidbit I did not realize. It's been said that Randle cannot be traded for 6 months. But it turns out the contract could be structured that he does not fall under the 6 month rule! The main criteria at play here is the raises in the contract. Most contracts have annual increases of 8%, but if the annual increases are limited to 5% or less, the 6 month rule may not apply. Other criteria are less than 4 or 5 years and less than 20% raise on the first year, both of which apply to Randle's new deal.
So, if the new deal starts at his player option of 31 mil, 8% raises over 3 years results in a 100 mil deal. But, if the deal starts at 31.75 mil, 5% raises over 3 years also results in a 100 mil deal. Hmm...
My gut tells me the deal starts at 31 mil, thus the 6 month rule applies. It seems the Wolves are all in on keeping Randle. But if it turns out the deal starts at 31.75 mil, it will open the door to an offseason trade.
Hoopshype has Randle’s contract at 30,666,667 in the first year, 33,333,333 the second year and back down to $30,666,667 in the final year. Interestingly, that adds up to only 94,666,667, not $100M as reported. If this is correct, the increase from year one to year to is not under 5% so it looks link Randle’s contract triggers the 6-month rule. If Hoopshype is correct, the is a pretty team-friendly contract that seems fairly tradable, especially after year two but even by next season’s trade deadline.
I’ve never been a fan of bringing back Randle for all the reasons Cool and some others have mentioned. I found the announcement of this multi-year deal a bit deflating as I was hoping they’d deal Randle for a better fit. However, I can’t say this is a bad move. The price is fairly reasonable and I’m inclined to give our coaching staff and front office the benefit of the doubt now on the positive value they obviously believe Randle brings to the team - at least compared to the alternatives they had. For example, I’m sure they’ had sign-and-trade discussions about Randle. Apparently, our front office did not consider any of the offers as good for the team as keeping Julius.
Hmm...if that's the case I'd guess Randle's incentives might still be in the new contract which could make this 3 years 100 million deal that was reported look a little better.
kekgeek wrote: ↑Sun Jun 29, 2025 8:32 pm
My bad Tim, I missed that. Hand up!
No problem! Some of these things need to be mention multiple times. I mean, Lip still doesn't realize Beringer has not been included in the hoopshype list of salaries. I think it needs to be mentioned a few more times...
Lip is playing chess, the rest of us, parcheese
lol. I have included Beringer in all my revised calculations. We don’t know exactly what Randle’s salary will be next season but it looks like we’ll be somewhere from $8-10M under the 2nd apron with 12 roster players including Randle, Naz and Beringer. So in my highly sophisticated game of 4 dimensional chess, I believe we can sign a free agent at the full $5.7M taxpayer MLE and add a vet minimum guy for a 14-man roster. We may or may not have room under the 2nd apron to add a 15th player.
One feature of this board is that we seem to always need a whipping boy...someone who absorbs the highest portion of the negative comments. Rudy might be a candidate, but I would say Randle is the #1 whipping boy. I have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of his when he played for the Knicks, but the player I watched the last half of last season was not the same guy I saw in NY. He's often called a ball stopper here, but how many ball stoppers lead their team in assists...especially if they're not a PG? Well, Ju did last season, and I expect him to lead the team in assists this season again. And I think he will be second in scoring and rebounding again also.
One of my issues with Ju in NY was that he didn't score efficiently, but his 59% TS% last season matched Ant, and was only exceeded by Rudy. Not surprisingly, the last time he exceeded 59% was in his one season playing for Finch...he never shot this well in NY. He loves playing for Finchie.
He provides some toughness that I think this team lacks...his footwork when he realizes he can beat his man to the basket is excellent. He was the only guy who could bully his defender last season, and hopefully TJ joins his this year.
And the reason I'm more excited about Ju this upcoming season is that he looks even better than last season during these preseason games. He's still really big, but he looks slimmer and faster to me. He was clearly our best player last night, and I think he has been our best player overall this preseason. That's not necessarily a good thing...we need Ant to be our best player if we are going to challenge for a championship. But I'm not worried about Ant...I think he'll be fine once the real season starts, and will be our best player again. But having a Robin like Ju playing at the level he is playing at is vitally important.
I'm not alone here...some guys who follow the Wolves closely are noticing too, and they attribute it to his being happy here along with being comfortable being second in importance to Ant. Britt Robson was a Randle detractor much of last year, but he has raved about the increased intensity he is bringing on defense. And both Dane Moore and Kyle Theige have predicted he will be an All-Star this season.
I think Ju is tainted by his NY performance and attitude, and he'll probably continue to be the #1 whipping boy here. And there is a perception that his presence in the starting lineup is blocking the development of Jaden and TJ. But I don't know that there is anyone in the rotation more capable of drawing double teams and finding them if they are open in the corner...they just need to make the shot, because he will find them.
It's been a year since the KAT trade, and I still think getting a true #2 in Ju, an efficient high-volume 3-point shooter in Donte, and a young center with potential in Joan in exchange was grand theft larceny. I'm obviously high on this team, and having a guy like Ju as Ant's Robin is a lot of the reason why.
There will be a lot of rebuttal I'm sure, and I'm looking forward to it.
One of the posters you're talking to is me. I'm not going to engage in a daily or even weekly discussion about JR. I think I know who he is as a player and who he isn't. I'll be rooting for him like any other player. But I'm going to let his overall impact play itself out over the season, and not on a game by game basis.
