The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, the night before the 2026 NBA Draft, in a three-team deal that also sent Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls and freed up enough cap space for Minnesota to immediately turn around and sign Ayo Dosunmu to a five-year, $112 million contract.
Randle, 31, is headed to Brooklyn with the Timberwolves' No. 28 pick. Minnesota gets back the No. 33 pick and a non-guaranteed roster filler from Chicago named Mo Gueye, who will be waived.
The trade was reported by ESPN's Shams Charania shortly before midnight on the eve of the draft.
It is the kind of move that lands differently depending on which team's perspective you take, a salary dump for Minnesota, a reclamation project for Brooklyn, a frontcourt upgrade for Chicago, and it sets off a chain of consequences that will reshape the Timberwolves' roster for at least the next season.
Randle's $33.3 million salary is now on the Nets' books. Claxton's $23.3 million is on the Bulls'.
Minnesota walks away with a second-round pick, a signed Ayo Dosunmu and a question about who scores 20 points a night when Randle is not in the building.
The Case Minnesota Made To Itself
Julius Randle had an excellent regular season for the Timberwolves in 2025-26.
He averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 79 games, one of just ten players in the NBA to hit 20 points, five rebounds and five assists while appearing in at least 79 games.
His shot creation, his ability to draw fouls and his capacity to operate as a secondary offensive hub alongside Anthony Edwards gave Minnesota a legitimate second option in the half-court.
Then the playoffs happened. The Timberwolves lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round in six games, and Randle's performance was a significant part of why.
He averaged 12.8 points on 34.2 percent shooting from the field and 19 percent from three in the series.
He had five or more turnovers in three of the first four games. The player who had been one of the ten best offensive players in basketball during the regular season became a liability in the moments that mattered most.
It was not the first time, he had also struggled against the Thunder in the playoffs the year before, and the pattern was enough to make Tim Connelly decide that the $33 million was better spent differently.
The "differently" part materialized within hours. With the cap space created by Randle's departure, Minnesota agreed to a five-year, $112 million deal with Ayo Dosunmu, the 26-year-old guard acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline who was excellent down the stretch for the Wolves.
Dosunmu's deal includes a player option in the fifth year and pays him approximately $19.3 million in 2026-27.
He is a significantly cheaper, significantly more committed version of the same basic proposition: a player who can complement Edwards without demanding the ball as much as Randle needed it.
The person who steps into Randle's starting role is Naz Reid, the former undrafted center who has finished in the top five of Six Man of the Year voting for three consecutive seasons and who has never started more than a handful of games in his NBA career. "Naz Reid is going to be the starting power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first time in his career," The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski wrote Monday night. "This move is a big statement of belief in Reid and Jaden McDaniels to take the next steps in their development." Reid has averaged 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in under 26 minutes per game over the past three seasons.
He is a legitimate starter on a good team. Whether he can replace what Randle provided offensively is the question the 2026-27 season will begin to answer.
Where Randle Is Going And Why Brooklyn Made This Deal
Julius Randle is returning to New York, the city where he played the five best and most productive seasons of his career as a member of the Knicks, where he made three All-Star teams and where the version of himself that averaging 24 points and making the All-Star team in 2020-21 was captured and preserved.
He left the Knicks in October 2024 when they traded him along with Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns.
He is now back in the same borough, wearing a different shade of blue, playing for an organization that is starting from scratch.
Brooklyn's willingness to absorb his $33 million salary makes sense within the specific context of their roster construction.
The Nets had approximately $50 million in cap space available heading into the offseason, one of the larger piles of cap room in the league, and Randle, whatever his flaws, is a three-time All-Star who averaged 21 points last year.
He is a better option than almost anyone available outright on the free agent market, and he comes with the No. 28 pick attached.
The Nets now hold two first-round picks Tuesday, the sixth overall and the 28th, plus the 43rd selection in the second round.
Randle will play next to Michael Porter Jr., who is on an expiring contract, giving Brooklyn a legitimate offensive pairing in a league where they have been running the youngest team in the NBA for the better part of two years.
Unloading Claxton also opens frontcourt minutes for Day'Ron Sharpe, who was arguably Brooklyn's best center last season before being displaced by the Claxton arrangement.
What Chicago Gets
Nic Claxton joins Jim Hiller's Chicago Bulls under a system that Hiller has built around defense, rim protection and player development.
Claxton, 27, spent his entire seven-year NBA career in Brooklyn after being drafted in the second round in 2019.
He averaged 11.7 points on 57.1 percent shooting, 6.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in 2025-26, numbers that have declined from his 2022-24 peak when he was averaging north of 12 points and 2.3 blocks, but still represent a useful starting center.
Chicago was thin in the frontcourt after trading Nikola Vucevic at the deadline.
Claxton gives Josh Giddey a legitimate rim-running partner and gives Hiller the defensive infrastructure at the center position that his system prefers.
He is 27 years old, which fits the Bulls' youth movement timeline, and his two-year contract at $23.3 million per season is manageable if he returns to his earlier form under a new coaching staff.
The NBA Draft is Tuesday. Randle will be in Brooklyn when it starts.