The Minnesota Timberwolves' season is officially over as they were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. This is the second straight season the Timberwolves have made it this far, and there were questions if they would get back this season after the moves they made.
One of those moves was trading for Julius Randle, which ended up working out great for the Timberwolves. Randle played great in the first two rounds, but it was the Thunder that led him to struggle. After the game, Randle spoke about his emotions going into the offseason.
“Once that buzzer sounds and you’re just able to feel everything, it hurts,” Randle said via The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski. “It hurts. So, really, that’s where I’m at right now. It’s almost like a grieving stage of the season and it hurts, really. But we’ll be back.”
The Timberwolves had a strong season, and they started to click on both sides of the ball late in the year. They took down the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, as nobody really expected them to win. Then in the second round, they defeated the Golden State Warriors in five games.
Everyone knew their series against the Thunder would be tough, and they just didn't have enough for them in the end.
Will Julius Randle return to Timberwolves next season?
Article Continues BelowRandle struggled in a few games this series, but if you look at this overall body of work in the playoffs, it's a big improvement from his previous years in the postseason
“Super disappointing,” Randle said. “But just the series in general, I’m disappointed. I feel like we’re a better team than what we showed. So, a lot of motivation going into the summer, for sure.”
The next goal for Randle and the Timberwolves is to work on a agreeing to a long-term deal, and it seems like a good chance that he'll be returning to the team, He currently has a player-option so he could decline it and sign a deal for more money, or he could just opt-in and be a free agent next season.
For what the Timberwolves were able to accomplish this season, there's no way that the Timberwolves decide to move on from Randle, and that he decides to go somewhere else. It looks like they have something good going now, but that's also what everybody at the end of last season, and they traded Karl-Anthony Towns.