Minnesota Sports Forum

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2026 5:11 pm

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2026 4:20 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 17, 2026 11:32 am I think I'd need 3 non or very lightly protected first rounders + Ja for Ju and DDV.

Then just gamble that he turns it all around which I think is very slim.

Not sure why Memphis would do that though, they need picks more then us.

if they're drafting Boozer, they have absolutely no use for Randle at all.

He's simply running out of places that would start him.

Let's look at the list and chop it down:

Atlanta- Jalen Johnson
Boston- Tatum
Brooklyn- Clowney, so there's an opening
Charlotte- Bridges
Chicago- Buzelis
Cleveland- Mobley
Dallas- PJ Washington, possible opening
Denver- Gordon
Detroit- big void if Tobias Harris walks
Golden State- Green
Houston- Jabari Smith
Indiana- Siakam
LAC- Collins, though I think he can walk this summer
LAL- Hachimura, who is a free agent
Memphis- will likely draft Boozer, if not, big opening
Miami- they play really small, so if they want a bigger PF, opening
Milwaukee- some Greek guy named Giannis, but he'll be gone soon
New Orleans- Zion
New York- OG
OKC- Chet
Orlando- Banchero
Philadelphia- George
Phoenix- Brooks and they wanna use more Fleming
Portland- Camara
Sacramento- Murray
San Antonio- Vassell and eventually Bryant
Toronto- Barnes
Utah- Markkanen
Washington- Sarr

so it's down to Brooklyn, Dallas, LAC, LAL, Miami, Milwaukee and possibly Memphis

and that's before we factor in direction, whether it works with the cap, what the asking price is.

Randle is such a tough person to place and I feel like once Giannis is outta the picture, they'll go back to glazing Randle and hope on something that never happens: "player starts playing better, then gets traded"

Tatum is at least as much a SF as PF, probably more of a SF. Bridges also plays both forward positions. Randle would be a major upgrade over Harris for Detroit. Miami definitely has a PF slot to fill that Randle would fit perfectly if they don’t get Giannis. The Bulls will likely draft a PF but if they want to be competitive right away, which they’ll have a strong incentive to do given the new lottery rules, they would definitely benefit from Randle over any of their existing PFs. I see Buzelis as a SF as much as he is a PF. Portland wants to win right away and Randle would help them. While guys like Tatum and George as scorers, there’s nothing wrong with adding another high usage scorer. Randle and Ant went to the Conference finals together.

So I think the list of potential suitors includes:
1. Detroit
2. Miami (if they don’t get Giannis)
3. Boston (if they don’t get Giannis)
4. Portland (if they don’t get Giannis. I consider Portland the leading dark horse candidate to end up with Giannis)
5. Sixers (I see Paul George as a SG/SF)
6. Brooklyn
7. Dallas
8. LAC
9. LAL
10. Milwaukee (if they trade Giannis)
11. Maybe Memphis

That strikes me as a big enough universe to find a decent deal for Randle. He stays on the court and puts up big offensive numbers. He has playoff seasoning, is still in his prime and doesn’t bring any off-court baggage. He also has a reasonable contract. I’m not suggesting he’s widely coveted and our expectations for the return we can get should be measured. But I don’t see him as a guy who will be particularly hard to trade or who won’t bring a decent return.

Tatum could play SF sure, but the other wing would be Jaylen Brown if they keep White and Pritchard at guard.

The other forward in Charlotte is Brandon Miller, so if you wanna interchange them, it doesn't make a difference.

Yes, someone MIGHT want Randle if Giannis goes somewhere, but it's safe to assume Giannis will go to one of those teams. Randle's also a tough consolation prize.

The Bulls have drafted 2 PF's the last 2 years and have Caleb Wilson likely at SF. Randle doesn't fit there, relegation zone be damned.

Portland REALLY doesn't need Randle. Between Avdija, Camara, Jerami Grant still making $30 mil a year, so unless you wanna swap Randle for Grant, there's no incentive for Portland.

Paul George hasn't been a SG since he was a Pacer (also, assume that in a Randle trade, they'd try to offload George onto you).

Also, heading into 2027's draft class, it's not considered a strong class. If there's a year where the relegation zone isn't gonna feel like a punishment, it's next year.

broscience wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2026 3:08 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 17, 2026 11:32 am I think I'd need 3 non or very lightly protected first rounders + Ja for Ju and DDV.

Then just gamble that he turns it all around which I think is very slim.

Not sure why Memphis would do that though, they need picks more then us.

We don’t have a ton of picks, having the assets alone would change the landscape dramatically.
Of any team in the league we have the least incoming future first round picks (tied with the nuggets, knicks and suns). Two of those picks are vulnerable to a pick swap.

Well there you go, you need picks more then us.

I don't know why we'd gamble on Ja. He's game has gone so far downhill that he's a big gamble / negative value based on his salary.

If he made say 15 million, OK. I can fit that gamble in, but no way at his salary. Such a big risk. I'd much rather bet on Kyrie coming back after a year off.

broscience wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2026 3:08 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 17, 2026 11:32 am I think I'd need 3 non or very lightly protected first rounders + Ja for Ju and DDV.

Then just gamble that he turns it all around which I think is very slim.

Not sure why Memphis would do that though, they need picks more then us.

We don’t have a ton of picks, having the assets alone would change the landscape dramatically.
Of any team in the league we have the least incoming future first round picks (tied with the nuggets, knicks and suns). Two of those picks are vulnerable to a pick swap.

I’ll add that our 2nd-round draft cupboards are also nearly empty. We have pick #59 this year then no second round pick in 2027 or 2028. Will likely have our own 2nd round pick in 2029, after which we might get the Grizzlies 2nd round pick (31-50 protected) in 2030 with no 2nd round pick in 2031. Combined with our lack of 1st round picks and unfavorable picks swaps, the Wolves have to be at or near the bottom of the League in draft capital. Meanwhile, the Spurs and OKC (the two elite Western Conference teams we’re aspiring to catch) are awash in 1st round picks). Of course, it all ties back to the Rudy deal, exacerbated by the Dillingham deal.

I never disliked bringing Rudy here but the scale of draft assets we gave up for him is the scale you reserve for a two-way superstar like Giannis. The good news is that the Wolves have a core of high quality players just entering their prime, including Jaden, Naz and a star named Anthony Edwards who is still only 24 years old. If we re-sign Ayo, I’d add him to the list of high quality core players just entering their prime. More good news is that the Wolves are a quality playoff team that isn’t too far from being a title contender.

As I’m mentioned before, I think it’s imperative that the Wolves front office build around that core to take the next step into title contention. There is no easy way to do that - no short cut. Because of our empty draft cupboards, there’s no way to land a high-priced star on the back side of his prime like Giannis without cutting deep into our young core to the point where the benefit of adding that player is largely negated, not to mention the risk of relying on an incoming player with lots of mileage who recently had a hard time staying healthy.

Anthony Edwards has three years left on his contract. If we can remain competitive these next three seasons and show a positive rather than negative trajectory - i.e., make the playoffs and advance at least one round with a supporting whose skills aren’t deteriorating - he’ll probably re-up with us and not demand a trade. Giannis finally pushed to leave only after not making it out of the second round three straight seasons and getting worse each year with older declining players like Middleton, Lillard before trading him back to Portland, Gary Harris, etc. The biggest mistake the Bucks made was probably trading for Lillard, which I thought was a really dumb idea at the time. (Just another lesson in the follow of trading for stars or former stars in their 30s.)

I don’t have any great ideas on what moves the Wolves should make this summer. But that’s why the Wolves organization pays Tim Connelly the big bucks and gives him his huge staff of basketball execs and scouts. He needs to figure it out and to me “figuring it out” isn’t finding clever ways without picks to get a star or former star on the backside of or beyond his prime. Even Derrick White, now in his 30s and coming off a terrible shooting season, would be a questionable acquisition unless we can get him simply for Randle and #28. It seems to me that the answer to taking the next step lies in trading Randle and possible Rudy (may with pick #28) for a younger talent that others have missed - another NAW or better yet another SGA, or perhaps a trade up for a pick like Philon who could be another Haliburton. Ideally, the Wolves would convert Rudy, Randle and pick 28 through one or two deals into Derrick White and a mid-first round pick this year to get Philon that would make sense to me but I think that’s a stretch.