RealGM Basketball Wiretap

04 March 2025

• Julius Randle To Return To Timberwolves Lineup On Sunday

  Julius Randle is set to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves lineup on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns.

  Randle has missed the previous 13 games with a groin injury.

  Randle is averaging 18.9 points and 7.2 rebounds on the season.

• Anthony Edwards Fined $35k For Actions Following Thursday Ejection

  The NBA fined Anthony Edwards $35,000 for failing to leave the court in a timely manner and throwing the ball into the stands during Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

  Edwards, who was ejected after receiving two technical fouls, has 16 on the season.

  Edwards is suspended for Saturday's game against the Jazz due to the accumulation of technical fouls.

• Anthony Edwards Suspended One Game For Receiving 16th Technical Foul

  Anthony Edwards has been suspended one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical foul of the 2024-25 season.

  Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he receives his 16th technical foul during a regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that regular season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended without pay for an additional game.

  Edwards received his most recent technical foul with 5:21 remaining in the third quarter of the Timberwolves' 111-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 27 at Crypto.com Arena. The incident marked Edwards' second technical foul of the game, resulting in his ejection. Edwards will serve his suspension tonight when the Timberwolves visit the Utah Jazz at Delta Center.

• Mavericks Offered Luka Doncic To Timberwolves For Anthony Edwards

  Before Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, discussions were had to send him to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Dallas Mavericks and Timberwolves had informal trade talks that centered around a swap of Doncic for Wolves star Anthony Edwards.

  Dallas reportedly reached out to see if Minnesota would be willing to trade Edwards. While the Timberwolves told Nico Harrison that Edwards was off limits, the team was reportedly stunned to find out Doncic was available.

  Edwards is signed through 28-29 with the Wolves and has also been one of the NBA's most durable stars. Edwards will also likely become supermax extension eligible during the 2027 offseason.

  The Mavericks ultimately traded Doncic to the Lakers for a package centered around Anthony Davis.

• Anthony Edwards Facing One-Game Suspension After Picking Up 16th Technical

  Anthony Edwards picked up two technical fouls on Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers, giving him 16 for the season.

  Edwards now faces an automatic one-game suspension and will miss Friday's game against the Jazz unless one of the technicals gets rescinded.

  After the 16th technical, every two technicals will result in a one-game suspension.

  Edwards is the first player to receive 16 technicals before March since DeMarcus Cousins in the 2016-17 season.

• Bones Hyland, Wolves To Sign Two-Way Deal

  The Minnesota Timberwolves will sign Bones Hyland to a Two-Way deal. Hyland was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2021 when Wolves' president Tim Connelly was with the team.

  The Nuggets traded Hyland to the Los Angeles Clippers at the 2023 trade deadline. Hyland was traded at this year's deadline to the Atlanta Hawks and was subsequently waived. In 20 games this season for the Clippers, Hyland averaged 7.2 points in 11.1 minutes.

• Jaylen Clark, Wolves Agree To Fully Guaranteed Two-Year Contract

  The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to convert Jaylen Clark to a standard fully guaranteed two-year contract. Clark entered the Wolves' rotation on January 29th and has averaged 6.9 points and 1.7 reboudns in 11 February games.

  Clark was a second round pick by the Wolves in 2023 and missed the entire 23-24 season due to a torn Achilles tendon.

  Clark is represented by Todd Ramasar.

• Nickeil Alexander-Walker Could Be Out Of Wolves' Price Range In Free Agency

  The Minnesota Timberwolves would like to re-sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker in free agency as his comes off a two-year, $9 million deal, but his new contract could be exorbitant for the franchise to match. Some league executives project Alexander-Walker as signing for as high as $20 million per year on average, which is well above the mid-level exception.

  Alexander-Walker was considered an afterthought when the Wolves acquired him along with Mike Conley as part of the D'Angelo Russell and Russell Westbrook trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz.

  "We love him," Chris Finch told Jake Fischer back in January. "He's been so important to us. He's one of our most consistent performers."

  The Wolves traded away Karl-Anthony Towns before the start of the season in order to help balance their salary cap.

• Naz Reid Expected To Decline $15M Option With Wolves For 25-26

  Naz Reid has a $15 million player option with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 25-26 season that many around the NBA expect him to decline to become a free agent. Reid is represented by Sean Kennedy.

  When Reid signed a three-year contract extension with the Wolves in June 2023, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs were amongst the teams expected to pursue him.

  While it is unclear if Reid will be able to find a contract offer from a rival team above his $15 million option, there are expectations that he and the Wolves are more likely than not to come to terms on a new contract.

  In 57 games this season, Reid is averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes.

• Wolves Called Teams Trying To Get Under Second Apron As Part Of Kevin Durant Pursuit

  The Minnesota Timberwolves' pursuit of Kevin Durant leading to the trade deadline was serious enough where they began calling rival teams to help facilitate a deal. The Wolves had to get under the NBA's second apron in order to aggregate contracts to acquire Durant and his $51 million contract.

  While Durant is more than a decade older than Anthony Edwards, the Wolves have operated with a sense of urgency in building around him evidenced by their decision to send control of their upcoming drafts to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert in 2022.

  But there had been little sense Tim Connelly had interest in a significant in-season deal so soon after trading away Karl-Anthony Towns, but he saw a unique opportunity with the sudden availability of Durant.