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“I think we all know what Julius can do as a player,” Marks said. “There's a chip on his shoulder. He's highly competitive. He plays the position of need for us. Downhill play, a forceful, impactful player. And then you look at what he does in the locker room for us when we have a younger group that is going to need some stability at times and some leadership both on and off the court. And Julius has won at a very, very high level. He understands where he is in his career… He's always had an impact on every team he's been on. And now coming back to Brooklyn, New York, where he's very familiar with, obviously, the borough and the city, this will be great for our group, great for our organization.”
Without control of their own pick, the Nets don’t intend for a third. That’s why they added a floor-raiser like Randle, who has a $35.8 million player option for next season. “They’re really excited to have me here. Jordi [Fernandez] is really excited. He feels like going into every game, we’ve got a chance to win every single game,” Randle said. “To have that confidence from your coach is amazing. … I get to come in and be a leader, show guys how to be a pro. “We’re coming in trying to win. It’s as simple as that. However we can help give the younger guys experience and confidence and help them fast-track or whatever it is to contribute to winning basketball, that’s really all that matters. All I care about, at the end of the day, is winning, and I know that’s what those guys care about. If I can help give them that experience, great.”
Brett Siegel: Trade details: Hornets: Naz Reid, Mouhamadou Gueye, MIN 2033 1st (unprotected), MIN 2028, 2029, 2030 1st SWAPS, MIN 2029, 2032, 2033 2nds Nets: Julius Randle, Joshua Jefferson (Pick No. 28) Timberwolves: LaMelo Ball, Josh Green, Isaiah Evans (Pick No. 33) Bulls: Nic Claxton
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Erik Slater: Mikel Brown Jr. on his vision for the Nets: “I was talking to Julius Randle about it the other day and he told me, ‘We’re gonna shock the world.’ That’s what we plan on doing.”
Keith Smith: Nets could still have around $40M in cap space to use in free agency, pending how they time out acquiring Julius Randle. The signing of Day'Ron Sharpe will come after Nets have used their cap space, either through the Room Exception or remaining cap space, similiar to last year.
At the same time, teams like Minnesota and Toronto — franchises that had been extremely aggressive in pursuing upgrades — found themselves with an opportunity to improve their fortunes. The Wolves, after sending Julius Randle to Brooklyn, were left with a $33 million trade exception and a cap book $66 million leaner, while continuing to signal intentions to add a quality point guard, sources say (a pursuit that at one time included Cleveland's James Harden and Memphis' Ja Morant). The Raptors, who league sources say have been signaling buyer's remorse on recent signings, had been finding it difficult to make additional moves and expressed a willingness to involve themselves in the trade rumor mill.
Yossi Gozlan: The Timebrwolves will need to fold the LaMelo Ball trade with Nets/Bulls trade since their post-trade payroll is above the first apron. Julius Randle & Naz Reid for LaMelo Ball & Josh Green is a 100 percent salary match. They're now hard capped to second apron for aggregation.
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Marc Stein: The Hornets have extracted an undeniable haul from Minnesota to land Naz Reid plus an unprotected first-round pick in 2033 as well as three first-round pick swaps and three second-round picks. It is expected this trade will be folded into the three-team Julius Randle deal.
Brian Windhorst on the Timberwolves potentially trading Rudy Gobert for LaMelo Ball: "If the cost is Gobert, I can't see how they go forward. They won the series against the Nuggets because of Gobert. There is a height and size race in the Western Conference right now. So I'm not sure what the pathway is. I guess it's possible that they could expand the Julius Randle trade to a multiple team trade to open this door, but I do think Minnesota feels like they have to look at this, and I think Charlotte feels like they have to look at this. There's some other teams involved. Maybe we see a trade, maybe we don't. I don't think it's a guarantee."
The Randle trade is not expected to become official for several weeks because both the Nets and Wolves have to work through other moves first to maximize their dealmaking abilities under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. “We’ll always kind of invent a way to transact even if, at times, on paper, it doesn’t look as though we can,” Lloyd said. “Something will happen. I don’t know how. We’ll have mechanisms to utilize here in the next couple weeks, too.”
Yossi Gozlan: The Wolves can expand the Julius Randle trade to acquire LaMelo Ball. They'd want to do a 100 percent salary match so they can exceed the first apron, which can be done by including Donte DiVincenzo. Then it's about adding draft picks & young players to incentivize Charlotte.
