After losing in the Western Conference Finals in two consecutive seasons, the Timberwolves had some tough decisions to make this offseason. Julius Randle, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were all slated to be free agents, leaving Minnesota at risk of losing a large part of its core.

Now, a day before free agency officially opens, the Timberwolves have locked up two of those key pieces up long term. After Reid signed a five-year, $125 million deal to stay in Minnesota, Randle has now agreed to a three-year, $100 million deal with the Wolves before hitting the open market according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Randle has a player option before the 2027-28 season, so he has two guaranteed years in Minnesota before making a decision on the final year of this deal.

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The Timberwolves will be happy to be keeping Randle around after acquiring him from the New York Knicks in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns before the 2024-25 season. While the fit between Randle and Anthony Edwards took a while to take shape, the two were both playing very good basketball in the playoffs and helped lead the Wolves to two playoff series wins.

Randle's overall numbers were down a bit in his first year in Minnesota, but he still averaged 18.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Now that he is settled into the system in Minnesota, he should be able to be even more productive in year two with the franchise.

Retaining Reid and Randle both means that Chris Finch will have plenty of lineup versatility in the front court again next season as those two play alongside Rudy Gobert. That will make it very challenging for Western Conference teams to play the Wolves up front once again.

The biggest question that comes from this Randle contract is now the status of Alexander-Walker. The Timberwolves didn't have a ton of money to spend this offseason to start with, and now they are spending just under $60 million annually on Randle and Reid. That likely doesn't leave enough left for Alexander-Walker, who should have a very robust market this offseason.