{"id":142264,"date":"2025-05-29T06:30:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=142264"},"modified":"2025-05-29T05:10:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T09:10:50","slug":"stay-or-go-predicting-outcome-of-timberwolves-free-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/29\/stay-or-go-predicting-outcome-of-timberwolves-free-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay Or Go? Predicting Outcome Of Timberwolves Free Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven\u2019t had much success in their franchise\u2019s history. Each of the last two years though, they have reached the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately for them, both seasons they lost in five games in that round, this year to the Oklahoma City Thunder. After a middling 22-21 start in 2024-25, they ended the regular season on a 27-12 run. Now, the team can begin to focus on the upcoming offseason after falling one round shy of the NBA Finals once again. Let\u2019s predict whether the Timberwolves key free agents<\/a> will stay with the team next season or move on elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Stay Or Go? Predicting Outcome Of Timberwolves Free Agents<\/h2>\n

Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Leave<\/h3>\n

Turning 27 on September 2, Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> has not missed a game for Minnesota in each of the last two seasons. Head coach Chris Finch<\/a> did not go deep into his bench this postseason, but he certainly relied on playing Alexander-Walker. The 6-foot-5 guard totaled 52 points in Games 2-4 against the Thunder (although had a zero-point Game 5 outing).<\/p>\n

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May 26, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (9) reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half during game four of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This season, he finished with averages of 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists (rebounds and assists were career-highs). While Alexander-Walker was valuable on both ends, he may not be seen as someone pertinent to re-sign by the Timberwolves. This could be due in part because their two 2024 first round picks, Rob Dillingham<\/a> and Terrence Shannon Jr.<\/a>, are both also backcourt players.<\/p>\n

Julius Randle (Player Option) – Stay<\/h3>\n

Now 30 years old, Julius Randle<\/a> has a player option for 2025-26 worth just shy of $31 million. The problem for Randle is there are very few teams with a lot of cap space for next season, so it would likely be difficult for him to get a contract from another team that he desires. Whether he decides to opt in or out, he has previously stated that he would like to remain with Minnesota.<\/p>\n

While Randle overcame some of his previous playoff struggles while with the New York Knicks, he had a rather inconsistent Western Conference Finals. During his first season with the Timberwolves, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 69 games.<\/p>\n

Naz Reid (Player Option) – Stay<\/h3>\n

One of the most productive reserves in the league in recent years, Naz Reid<\/a> has a player option for slightly more than $15 million for 2025-26. He is almost certain to decline in order to find a multi-year deal at a larger annual salary. The 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year finished fifth in the voting this season.<\/p>\n

In 80 games (17 starts) in 2024-25, the 6-foot-9 power forward\/center posted averages of 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. For the second straight season, Reid made more than two three-pointers per contest for the second consecutive season. At a younger age than Randle, the 25-year-old Reid should be a priority to be re-signed by the only team he has played for in his six-year career.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven\u2019t had much success in their franchise\u2019s history. Each of the last two years though, they have reached the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately for them, both seasons they lost in five games in that round, this year to the Oklahoma City Thunder. After a middling 22-21 start in 2024-25, they ended the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5060,"featured_media":142267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,21,62,3],"tags":[510,1881,297,947],"class_list":["post-142264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-news","tag-julius-randle","tag-naz-reid","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nickeil-alexander-walker"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142264"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142410,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142264\/revisions\/142410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}