Minnesota's playoff exit at the hands of the Spurs will put Julius Randle's name squarely on the trade block this summer, but the Chicago Bulls can't make the same mistake both the Timberwolves and New York Knicks did: get seduced by the potential and then inevitable failure that has defined Randle's career.
San Antonio, led by Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, proved too much for an injury-riddled Wolves' team. But Randle's disasterclass sure didn't help.
Unfortunately, that's a recurring theme for the 31-year-old, who can dominate at times and flame out at others.
Randle will likely be a buy-low candidate this summer as Minnesota looks to retool its roster, but Chicago should run for the hills rather than entertain any kind of trade scenario.
Bulls can't be fooled by Julius Randle's dominant moments
Randle is a three-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA forward who averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists on 48.1 percent shooting from the field this season. That sounds like an attractive piece to pair with Matas Buzelis.
But new executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham has to dig deeper before he thinks about dealing for the former Kentucky star.
The good version of Randle showed up in Minnesota's first-round series victory over the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists and posted a 27-point, nine-rebound, six-assist stat line in Game 5.
After scoring 21 points and helping the Wolves upset the Spurs in Game 1 of their second-round series, Randle fell off a cliff.
In Games 2 through 6, he averaged 11.2 points on 32.2 percent shooting from the field and 13.3 percent from deep. His massive dud in Game 6 — he scored three points on 1-for-8 shooting — ultimately doomed the Wolves.
Minnesota was outscored by 34 points in his 24 minutes on the floor. Thirty-four points!
The Bulls can't afford to add a player like Randle.
Bulls must be patient in the early stages of their rebuild
Graham will have two top-15 picks at his disposal in the 2026 NBA Draft, including the fourth-overall selection. The Bulls own all of their first-round picks moving forward and can approach $60 million in cap space this offseason.
It might be tempting to make some win-now moves. But that's the last thing Chicago should be doing right now.
Graham has admitted he's kicking off a long-overdue rebuild. Wisely using his draft assets and not blowing his cash reserves should be his two priorities.
Being too enticed by Randle's admittedly alluring peaks would be a massive mistake.
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