The Minnesota Timberwolves made some… interesting moves yesterday. Just before the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat trade, Minnesota executed a three-team trade with the Brooklyn Nets and the Chicago Bulls. In that deal, Minnesota traded star forward Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a second-rounder in this year’s NBA Draft.
While the departure of Randle didn’t come as a surprise to a lot of fans, what was surprising was the haul that they got. Instead of getting back a player to potentially help them contend for next season, the Timberwolves instead got a dice roll that the player they will draft with the 33rd pick this year will help them. However, there is one thing that this trade helped facilitate: a new contract extension for standout guard Ayo Dosunmu.
“The Timberwolves now have the flexibility to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu and have available the $15M non tax midlevel and $5.5M biannual exception,” Bobby Marks reported. “Minnesota will also create a $33.3M trade exception.”
The Timberwolves re-signed Dosunmu to a massive 5-year contract worth $112 million. Dosunmu, who came over from the Bulls during the trade deadline, became a crucial part of Minnesota’s rotation in the postseason. He broke out amidst the Wolves’ growing injury list in the playoffs, scoring 43 points in Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets en route to a series win. The Wolves were impressed enough with the guard’s performance to keep him on the team for the long run.
As Marks mentioned, the returns of the Randle trade will not be seen until later in the offseason. The Timberwolves cleared out a lot of space to acquire impact veterans with their cap exceptions. That $33.3 million trade exception from the Randle deal, in particular, stands out as a strong weapon that Minnesota wields this offseason. They can use that to potentially snag another player in a trade later this offseason or in the middle of the season.
In any case, these exceptions will only be valuable IF the Timberwolves are able to properly fill out their roster. After another disappointing playoff run, the onus is on the front office to make moves to improve their roster.
The post The hidden Timberwolves benefits behind dumping Julius Randle to Nets appeared first on ClutchPoints.
