The Minnesota Timberwolves did not just move Julius Randle to clean up their cap sheet. If no follow-up move brings in another scorer or frontcourt piece, the trade also suggests a bigger responsibility for Naz Reid alongside Anthony Edwards next season.
Naz Reid Becomes Bigger Timberwolves Story After Julius Randle Trade
Julius Randle Trade Impact
The Timberwolves used the Randle trade to create flexibility, but the move also left a significant offensive gap that someone on the roster has to fill.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Minnesota sent Randle and the No. 28 pick to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade, with the Timberwolves receiving No. 33 while clearing the remaining money on Randle’s deal. Charania added that the move gives Minnesota more flexibility to retain Ayo Dosunmu and use exceptions this summer.
Free agent guard Ayo Dosunmu intends to sign a five-year, $112 million contract to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves, with a player option in the fifth season, sources tell ESPN. Timberwolves made it a major priority to lock in Dosunmu after his tremendous postseason. pic.twitter.com/xw93nAUhJt
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2026
That financial angle matters, but it should not hide the basketball side of the move. Randle averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists last season. If the Timberwolves do not use their new flexibility on another scorer or frontcourt piece, the clearest in-house candidate to absorb part of that workload is Reid.
Naz Reid Load Increases
This is where the trade becomes more than a salary dump. It becomes a test of how much offense Minnesota is ready to hand Reid.
The Timberwolves already trust him as one of the roster’s most important scoring pieces. He can stretch the floor, attack slower bigs, finish through contact,t and punish smaller defenders in switches. Those traits made him one of Minnesota’s most valuable bench players. They may now have to make him a larger part of the starting offensive structure instead of just the second unit. Reid signed a long-term extension because the Timberwolves believed his role was growing. The Randle trade may have accelerated that timeline.
That is why this move lands differently from a normal cap-clearing trade. Minnesota did not just lose a forward. It removed one of its highest-usage scorers without yet replacing that volume. If no outside addition follows, Reid becomes the easiest answer.
Anthony Edwards Needs Support
That part matters because the Timberwolves cannot keep asking Edwards to solve every offensive problem on his own.
The cleanest way to ease that burden is not always another point guard. Sometimes it is another frontcourt scorer who can punish mismatches, create a decent shot late in possessions, and keep the offense alive when teams load up on Edwards. Randle did some of that, even if the fit was uneven. If Minnesota does not turn its new flexibility into another scorer, it will need Reid to carry more of that work. That is one reason the Timberwolves’ offensive burden around Edwards still feels unresolved after the trade.
That does not mean Reid has to become Randle. It means he has to become more central to the offense than he was before. More touches, more half-court responsibility,y and more possessions where Minnesota needs him to create something instead of simply finishing it.
Naz Reid Frontcourt Pressure
The biggest question is whether the Timberwolves want that larger Reid role to be the plan or the fallback.
If Minnesota uses the trade exception or another part of its flexibility on a frontcourt scorer, the burden can be spread out. If it does not, then Reid’s role becomes even bigger by default. That would not just change his minutes. It would change how the Timberwolves build lineups, where they find secondary scoring, and how much pressure lands on Reid every night next to Edwards and Rudy Gobert.
That is why this trade still feels connected to the identity question hanging over the roster. The Timberwolves have spent two years building a defense good enough to contend. The harder part has been finding enough offense around Edwards without losing balance. Moving Randle may have helped the books. It may also have pushed Reid closer to the center of that problem.
Naz Reid Next Step
The Randle trade gave Minnesota room to reshape the rest of the summer. It also raised the price of standing still.
If no follow-up move brings another scorer, Reid will not just be filling minutes. He will be filling part of Randle’s offensive role. For a player the Timberwolves already trust, that is an opportunity. For a roster still trying to solve its offense, it is also a heavy ask.
Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
