MINNEAPOLIS _ The Timberwolves changed the trajectory of their franchise on Thursday, swinging for the fences and connecting on one of the biggest trades in the team's history.
The Wolves landed the player they have coveted since President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas walked in the door _ D'Angelo Russell _ and in the process shed the contract of a player whose promise never quite fit the vision fans had for him in Andrew Wiggins.
Less than two hours before the NBA's trade deadline, the Wolves and Warriors agreed to a deal, with the Wolves surrendering a top-3 protected first-round pick in 2021 and a second-round pick in 2021, a source confirmed to the Star Tribune. The first-round pick becomes unprotected in 2022 if it doesn't convey next season. The Wolves will also receive Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman in the deal, but most importantly, the Wolves landed a young, dynamic point guard they think will be a great fit alongside center Karl-Anthony Towns.
That wasn't their only move of the day. About 30 minutes before the deadline, the Wolves also dealt their longest-tenured player, Gorgui Dieng, to Memphis for veteran James Johnson in a move that'll save the Wolves about $1 million in cap space next season.
In the Russell deal, the Wolves didn't surrender the lottery-protected first-round pick they received from Atlanta via Brooklyn in a four-team trade the Wolves were a part of Tuesday. That deal sent five Wolves players, including Robert Covington, to multiple teams, and brought back Malik Beasley, Juan Hernangomez and Jarred Vanderbilt from Denver and Evan Turner from Atlanta.
This flurry of moves over the last 48 hours have made Towns the longest-tenured franchise player, with Towns and second-year guard Josh Okogie the only remaining pieces of the roster from when Rosas took the job in May.
It also helped the Wolves stay in Towns' good graces since Russell is a good friend of Towns' and they have spoken about playing together at some point. That point became important after the Wolves traded Towns' "best friend" on the team in Covington, a move Towns said had been "difficult" to take.
Change has come at the Wolves at warp speed this week.
The second major point of the Russell deal for the Wolves was getting out from underneath Wiggins' contract. Ever since Wiggins signed a maximum-contract extension in the summer of 2017, there was angst among the fan base about Wiggins' lack of production relative to the potential that made him the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft.
Wiggins' statistics declined when Jimmy Butler arrived, and he averaged just 17.7 points per game in 2017-18 and 18.1 points last season. Rosas and coach Ryan Saunders got Wiggins to revamp his game headed into this season, and Wiggins started taking better, more efficient shots from 3-point range and closer to the rim. He had an impressive start to the season but tailed off around late November when he became the focus of other teams' defenses while Towns was out because of a knee injury.
Wiggins was well-liked in the Wolves' locker room, but he was dogged by the notion that he was underperforming relative to his contract. That won't be the Wolves' issue anymore.
Now, they will see just how well Towns and Russell mesh together. Russell is the point guard the Wolves have coveted since Rosas got here. They made an unsuccessful push for him to sign with them over the summer, but even from the moment he went to Golden State, the league speculated about how much of a fit long-term Russell would be alongside healthy Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. Nobody got to see those three on the floor together, with Thompson out because of a torn ACL and Curry missing all but four games so far this year. The Warriors will now try to maximize Wiggins' talent.
The Wolves have preached about how they want to change the culture around the organization and have gone about that in part by revamping the personnel. Covington, Jeff Teague, Shabazz Napier, Jordan Bell, Treveon Graham, Noah Vonleh and Keita Bates-Diop _ seven players from the roster at the beginning of the year _ are gone. Okogie is the only Wolves player left on the roster who was acquired during the Tom Thibodeau era.
This is a new start for the Wolves, more than halfway through this season. They will have 32 games to see how Towns and Russell fit with each other and how the other seven players they just got will fit into the long-term picture of the franchise. Players like Beasley, Hernangomez and Vanderbilt could be a part of that. Beasley could be a target of other teams in restricted free agency, but the Wolves have the ability to match any offer sheets he receives. Spellman and Evans are signed through this season and next on rookie deals that are each around $2 million per season. Turner, a possible buyout candidate, likely doesn't fit any long-term plans.
When Rosas took over, he laid out his main goal for the organization and how he was going to accomplish that: to surround Towns with talent that complements his skill set and use trades as the primary vehicle to do that.
It didn't seem like it would happen now, with multiple reports saying talks had cooled between Golden State and the Wolves. The Wolves seemed unwilling to part with an unprotected 2021 pick, reputed to be a stronger draft than 2020, but the sides were able to come together and work out a deal. Golden State saves money against the luxury tax in the move.
Less than a year after taking over the job, Rosas has done what he set out to do. The question now is how well will this work? Will the Wolves be able to play decent enough defense with Covington out the door and Russell now in the fold? Can they find the right mix of players to complement Russell and Towns offensively?
These are the next steps. The first step _ the biggest one _ is finally behind the Wolves.
