MINNEAPOLIS — Everyone in Minnesota knew that something had to change with the Timberwolves roster coming off of their second-round exit in this year’s playoffs.Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly spent weeks burning up the phone lines looking for splash moves to change the complexion of the team around face-of-the-franchise Anthony Edwards. The easy place to point to was in the front court, where Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert both have had great moments in Wolves jerseys, but also seemed to be ill-fitting pieces right next to each other.With an artificial deadline of Tuesday’s first round of the NBA Draft bearing down on the Wolves, Connelly looked at the landscape and made a surprising declaration. With no deals available to get real value back for Randle, Connelly decided to make a move that would prioritize empowering the team’s young core over finding help from outside of the team.Connelly agreed to trade Randle and the 28th pick in the first round to Brooklyn for the 33rd pick, team sources told The Athletic. The Brooklyn Nets also sent center Nic Claxton to Chicago and the Bulls sent Minnesota center Mouhamadou Gueye, who will be waived. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal cannot be officially announced until July 6.The move had two big impacts on the Wolves roster. It is a giant vote of confidence in Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, both of whom will assume much larger roles next season. It also freed up the cap room to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu to a five-year, $112 million contract, open up the full mid-level exception to aid the pursuit of more talent and positioned the Timberwolves to avoid the luxury tax next season if they stand pat.It is a risky decision as Edwards prepares to enter his prime. The Timberwolves made back-to-back Western Conference finals appearances in 2024 and 2025, but took a step back in competitiveness this season when the San Antonio Spurs eliminated them in the second round. And they just salary dumped a player that was a major piece of the blockbuster trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota to New York in 2024.Randle averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists for the Wolves last season. Coach Chris Finch called him the team’s most important player because of his need to deftly toggle between scorer and playmaker for a team that did not have a true point guard in the starting lineup. He was the team’s best player in playoff wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in 2025, but struggled mightily against the Spurs in the second round this season. Randle averaged 12.8 points and shot 34 percent from the field and 19 percent from 3-point range in the series, won by the Spurs, 4-2, and he bore the brunt of the criticism from Wolves fans for the team falling short.“He’ll be the first to tell you didn’t play his best basketball versus San Antonio,” Connelly said after the season ended. “I think his playmaking, I think his on-ball defense, his physicality was really impactful. So we don’t win because of one player, lose because of one player. I think when we lost in the fashion we lost to San Antonio, they were clearly the better team, and we have to look at the collective, me included, the whole building. What can we all do better to ensure that we don’t see the same result next season?”