Minnesota Sports Forum

I would extend Julius 3/90. Offer Naz 4/80 or play elsewhere. You're beloved here, so you get great endorsments, but a good not great Player. Naw I offer 4/50-60.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 12:15 am

FNG wrote: ↑Thu May 15, 2025 7:54 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Thu May 15, 2025 6:47 pm

There are very few teams who could sign him for decent money this offseason, so he is likely to have to take less if he wants a long term deal. He did also say he only cares about winning at this point. I doubt he goes to a bottom feeder as he'd simply hate it. Is all the money in the world worth hating your job? We might say so, but he is already wealthy.

Yes, that's going to be an important factor in Ju's negotiation. I also see him as not a typical NBA player full of ego and life style. He's a family man...look how he lights up around his kids post game. And he and his wife are country people who reportedly weren't happy raising their kids in a concrete jungle. He's not going to Brooklyn. Money is important to all NBA players, but Ju seems to have a maturity about him that lets him put the dollars in proper perspective. I think he realizes whether he gets $25 or $35 million has no meaningful impact on his financial situation...especially if he gets multiple years. I think he would love 4 years, $100 million, if:
-it means staying in the kind of environment he and his wife want to raise their kids in
-he gets to play with Finchy
-he gets to play with a winning team bringing almost everyone back
-he gets to see and help Ant develop into whatever he's going to become
-he realizes taking a discount increases the chance of keeping players we need to win

Maybe I'm reading Ju completely wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised at 4-100...and I think that would be very good for Randle and the Wolves.

That was a number I was thinking would be potentially accepted by him also. Between 4-100 and 4-120. Naz on the other hand has been not playing up to his standard or potential, 4-80 might be plenty fair for him to take depending on this upcoming playoff games of course. I like his offense, but he was turning it over too much and getting roasted on defense this last series. He's got to be better if we're going to win the next round. DDV and NAW also.

I definitely don't see him taking a pay CUT.

Especially if he continues at this pace. He'd be the clearcut 2nd best player on a team that made the WCF or Finals. But he'd willingly be the 4th highest paid guy on the team?

Not seeing it. From many many reports... this stuff matters to NBA players just as much or more than "it's nice here."

What the players want and what is available are normally close to the same number, but the new CBA might depress what is actually offered. Not as many teams are willing to pay if they become tax payers unless they are making a push to a deep playoff run. Hopefully we won't bid against ourselves.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 9:13 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 12:15 am

FNG wrote: ↑Thu May 15, 2025 7:54 pm

Yes, that's going to be an important factor in Ju's negotiation. I also see him as not a typical NBA player full of ego and life style. He's a family man...look how he lights up around his kids post game. And he and his wife are country people who reportedly weren't happy raising their kids in a concrete jungle. He's not going to Brooklyn. Money is important to all NBA players, but Ju seems to have a maturity about him that lets him put the dollars in proper perspective. I think he realizes whether he gets $25 or $35 million has no meaningful impact on his financial situation...especially if he gets multiple years. I think he would love 4 years, $100 million, if:
-it means staying in the kind of environment he and his wife want to raise their kids in
-he gets to play with Finchy
-he gets to play with a winning team bringing almost everyone back
-he gets to see and help Ant develop into whatever he's going to become
-he realizes taking a discount increases the chance of keeping players we need to win

Maybe I'm reading Ju completely wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised at 4-100...and I think that would be very good for Randle and the Wolves.

That was a number I was thinking would be potentially accepted by him also. Between 4-100 and 4-120. Naz on the other hand has been not playing up to his standard or potential, 4-80 might be plenty fair for him to take depending on this upcoming playoff games of course. I like his offense, but he was turning it over too much and getting roasted on defense this last series. He's got to be better if we're going to win the next round. DDV and NAW also.

I definitely don't see him taking a pay CUT.

Especially if he continues at this pace. He'd be the clearcut 2nd best player on a team that made the WCF or Finals. But he'd willingly be the 4th highest paid guy on the team?

Not seeing it. From many many reports... this stuff matters to NBA players just as much or more than "it's nice here."

You could be right, who knows. But I'm not sure what we're talking about is a "pay cut". Right now he is guaranteed $31 million for one year if he wants it. What we are talking about is almost another guaranteed $70 million. That's a hell of a lot of security for a guy who's going to be 31 this year and has a mixed reputation around the league (somewhat unfairly I think). Yes, it's a pay cut for the 2025-6 season, but come on...it's another $69 million guaranteed!

Sure, the money matters to these guys, but not in a way that any of us would understand...it's not a question of having enough to pay the bills, it's more of an ego thing. It's about respect..."why am I making less than him, when I know I'm better?". And there are countless examples of NBA players who turned down long-term deals because their egos got in the way, and ended up suffering for it. But I think we can all agree that there are different levels of ego in the league, and I would argue that Julius seems to be on the opposite side of the spectrum from a guy like Butler. When we traded for him, I wondered how willing he would be able to accept the role of #2 here (at best)...a role I'm not sure KAT ever fully embraced. And I still wasn't sure during the first month of the season. But when you listen to him talk post games, you can see very little ego, and you can see he is very comfortable with the role Finchy has carved out for him here.

Environment factors weigh more heavily for the guys I see as "smarter" and lower ego...guys like Mike Conley and Julius. They recognize that they will never have any money issues, and have the luxury of making their decision giving some weight to non-money factors: community, comfort with the coach and teammates, the chance to compete for a chip every year. Julius sees all of those things here, and I think they will factor into his decision. They would mean little to a guy like Butler, but I don't see Ju as being like Butler. Combine that with the inability of most teams to have the ability to pay him, and I think he will jump at 4 years at a lower amount per year. Put another way, I think he would take a lot less to stay here than to go to a losing team in a concrete jungle like Brooklyn.

We'll have to see what happens. I think it would really help the Wolves from an on-court and financial situation though if my take ends up correct.

Obviously, Randle is expecting (and deserving) of a multi-year deal. So any annual reduction to his salary is a paycut. There's no way to sugarcoat that.

And pro sports are a business... probably even more than most fans would like to know.

It is about respect. And ego. And market value. And many other things. One other caveat to all of this... many NBA players have had "contract years" or even "contract runs" ...

If you ask most NY fans, they'd say that's EXACTLY the type of player Julius Randle is. And that's fine if it leads the Wolves further than they've ever gone before. Overpay the people who got you there as a reward.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 10:52 am Obviously, Randle is expecting (and deserving) of a multi-year deal. So any annual reduction to his salary is a paycut. There's no way to sugarcoat that.

And pro sports are a business... probably even more than most fans would like to know.

It is about respect. And ego. And market value. And many other things. One other caveat to all of this... many NBA players have had "contract years" or even "contract runs" ...

If you ask most NY fans, they'd say that's EXACTLY the type of player Julius Randle is. And that's fine if it leads the Wolves further than they've ever gone before. Overpay the people who got you there as a reward.

There are also multiple factors though that are just reality. No teams have cap room to give him a payraise (sign and trades are possible) and he's 31 getting older. Looking at him at age 35 do you really think he's going to get better or worse? That's just the reality, he's past his NBA prime. I still see the Wolves most likely wanting to risk extending him, but it is a risk. Of course depending on how the rest of the playoffs go (knock on wood he stays healthy and playing well). It is still a risk giving an older player with injury history a substantial contract, even if it's a "paycut". Not to mention how mush of his success is really because Ant takes so much of the defense away from Ju? Teams know this, we know this. As a number 2 option here he's found success.

Let's say he passes on a contract extension and tears an ACL next year or other major injury (knock on wood). What kind of deal does he get then? Guaranteed money is a real deal. It's a risk for the team, he could also risk just opting in and hoping everything goes great and then cashes on on extra money. But it's a risk either way.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 11:37 am

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 10:52 am Obviously, Randle is expecting (and deserving) of a multi-year deal. So any annual reduction to his salary is a paycut. There's no way to sugarcoat that.

And pro sports are a business... probably even more than most fans would like to know.

It is about respect. And ego. And market value. And many other things. One other caveat to all of this... many NBA players have had "contract years" or even "contract runs" ...

If you ask most NY fans, they'd say that's EXACTLY the type of player Julius Randle is. And that's fine if it leads the Wolves further than they've ever gone before. Overpay the people who got you there as a reward.

There are also multiple factors though that are just reality. No teams have cap room to give him a payraise (sign and trades are possible) and he's 31 getting older. Looking at him at age 35 do you really think he's going to get better or worse? That's just the reality, he's past his NBA prime. I still see the Wolves most likely wanting to risk extending him, but it is a risk. Of course depending on how the rest of the playoffs go (knock on wood he stays healthy and playing well). It is still a risk giving an older player with injury history a substantial contract, even if it's a "paycut". Not to mention how mush of his success is really because Ant takes so much of the defense away from Ju? Teams know this, we know this. As a number 2 option here he's found success.

Let's say he passes on a contract extension and tears an ACL next year or other major injury (knock on wood). What kind of deal does he get then? Guaranteed money is a real deal. It's a risk for the team, he could also risk just opting in and hoping everything goes great and then cashes on on extra money. But it's a risk either way.

Conley and Gobert both took a pay cut to get longer term deals. Both were different situations but that's exactly what happened.

Randle is not past his prime. He turns 31 in November and isn't a center or undersized PG. His legit injury history should be a factor on both sides looking at his value for his next contract. I don't think there will be many teams willing to give him 3-4 years on a big contract mostly because so few teams can.

I could see Randle being a guy that says I want X amount of money but I would be willing to take a certain amount less of it means the team can keep another player which in this case might mean Naz or maybe it means actually signing a FA to something other than a Vet min deal. Star players have done that so it's reasonable for Randle to do so to some extent.

Unless there is some massive dropoff and fail this postseason Randle is gonna be back next season it's just how many years will he be locked into. I suppose Randle could do something crazy and overvalue himself and demand 50 million or something higher than what the Wolves or anyone would pay but that seems unlikely.

Something else to consider and I think was fun to learn about. Teams/players that are playoff teams get a bonus based on their success. The Wolves already earned over 200k for being a 6th seed and are guaranteed another 951k for being in the conference finals. Yes that's split between the players but there is some money to be made by playing for a good team and being in the playoffs. This year the losing team in the finals splits 3.8 million and the finals winner gets 8.8 million. This isn't a ton of money compared to someone like Randle making 30 million but you could get a little cash back (or cash you could earn over playing for a less good team). If your team has success and it might feel good that your teammates are getting money too especially guys that aren't making bigger money. Idk if 2-way players get any of that playoff money but a guy like Clark getting even another 50k might be nice this year especially coming off a 2-way deal. 2-way guys might get a part of the bonus for getting the 6th seed which again another 10k might be nice when you aren't pulling in millions. Of course the real money maker from success is if you win a championship the endorsement game is definitely gonna be higher. Of course there is also tax situations that probably matter more than playoff bonuses but anyways...