Can Timberwolves keep Randle, Reid, and Alexander-Walker? Connelly says continuity is best

Winnipeg Free Press

2 days ago

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have plenty of reason to run back the same roster after reaching the Western Conference finals for the second straight time.
But that was their initial assessment last year, too, before the big trade went down right before the beginning of training camp. Not many moves can be ruled out, particularly in this era of the NBA that never seems far from the next surprising swap involving star players.
'We feel very happy with the core we have. We don't feel like there's tremendous pressure to do much,' president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. 'But until you're raising the trophy, you've got to be as active and as creative as possible to get to the point where you're the final team.'
Connelly later added: 'Those organizations that can show patience tend to have a really high level of success. But patience shouldn't lead to risk aversion. If there's something that if we have to shake it up and make us a better team, we're certainly open to that.'
The most pressing matters for Connelly and the front office over the next month will be negotiations with the agents for Julius Randle and Naz Reid, the two power forwards with vastly different styles and backgrounds who both face the same decision on whether to exercise a contract option for 2025-26 or decline it to become a free agent.
Randle's is for more than $30 million, a deal inherited from the New York Knicks when he was acquired with Donte DiVincenzo in the trade that sent away cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns. He raved about settling his family in Minnesota and playing for Chris Finch, and his performance during the first two rounds of the playoffs was superb, until some struggles against Oklahoma City in the conference finals.
Reid's is for about $15 million, making him at age 25 more likely to opt out in favor of a larger and longer deal. But that doesn't mean the Timberwolves won't be aggressive about trying to bring the fan favorite back.
'I would tell you I was optimistic even if I was lying to you, but we're pretty optimistic. Those guys are really really good players who play really really well together,' Connelly said. 'We have nothing but positive indicators both of these guys will be in Wolves jerseys next season.'
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, another vital part of the eight-player rotation, will be an unrestricted free agent. Connelly gave no indication he'll be limited by ownership in what he can commit to player salaries, but after spending this season above the NBA's second apron for team payrolls the Wolves clearly have little appetite for staying there — not just because of the steep tax but for the roster-building penalties that come with spending that high on the scale.
Bringing back Alexander-Walker as well as Randle and Reid without again passing the second apron might be impossible.
'The goal is to keep everybody. What's neat is the players are all very happy here. They love the coaching staff, they love the teammates, they love the community. When the player wants to be here and the team wants to have them back, there's always room for optimism. Certainly these guys have finite windows to earn a lot of money. We're very appreciative of what the market might look like. We're pretty cautiously optimistic we're in a good place with all of the guys.'
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The other factor in play is the desire to increase the roles for rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. and second-year player Jaylen Clark, who was essentially a rookie in 2024-25 after sitting his first season out in recovery from an Achilles tendon injury. The Wolves also have the 17th and 31st overall picks in the NBA draft later this month.
One key figure for this franchise whose future appears settled is Connelly, who agreed to push back by a year an option on his contract that would essentially make him a free agent out of deference to the ownership transfer process that was complicated at the time. After an arbitration panel sided with the group fronted by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in a decision reached in February, the sale by Glen Taylor is awaiting final NBA approval.
'Super happy here. It's been great — not just as working with the team, but this whole community really feels like home,' Connelly said. 'I think you guys are stuck with me.'
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