Julius Randle Joins Brooklyn Nets Under Familiar Role

Julius Randle is back in New York. The only thing is he is in a different borough than what he’s used to.

Monday night saw the Minnesota Timberwolves trade Julius Randle and the No.28th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sent Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.

Randle will be entering his age 32 season come 2026/27, as the already established veteran of 12-years comes into Brooklyn looking to lead the youngest team in the league. Randle overall is coming off of a 21 ppg average season with Minnesota in 2025/26, that featured him starting in all 79 games he appeared in. Randle averaged 33 minutes per-game and shot .481% from the field. The newly acquired Net is set to make $33.3M this upcoming season.

The Brooklyn Nets now have their veteran leader on a team that averaged a roster of 23.36 years last season. Brooklyn is also coming off of a 20-62 win season that saw them just three-wins shy of last place in the Eastern Conference.

Julius Randle is widely credited for bringing the Knicks back to relevance, which ended up sparking their eventual championship-winning run. Being back in New York is fitting for Randle and he now comes into the Nets’ locker room under a similar role when he joined the Knicks originally in 2019 after just a 17-win 2018 season. 

Brooklyn trading away the skilled left-handed shooting 27-year-old of Nic Claxton helps to offload some cap money for 2026/27, as Claxton’s $23.3 million for next season is now Chicago’s responsibility. Claxton was originally drafted 31st overall by Brooklyn in 2019, and has been one of the most consistent defenders on a team that has gone through multiple changes since he heard his name called. In 380 career games as a Brooklyn Net, Nic Claxton averaged 10.6 points, 7.6 total rebounds and 2.1 assists, while also notching nearly 2 blocks per-game. 

Claxton truly showcases how the Nets have changed throughout his career, which saw him have a +/- of +157 in 2020/21, to most recently a -515 over 2025/26. Overall, Claxton is -1,110 as a Net, with over -900 coming from just the last two seasons alone.

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