As Andrew Wiggins slammed home his awe-inspiring poster dunk over Luka Doncic, it was hard not to reminisce over some of Wiggins’ best moments in a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey. Flashes of his classic Rudy Gobert dunk ran through my head, followed shortly by his 2017 game-winner in Oklahoma. Memories of how Wiggins, Zach LaVine, and Karl-Anthony Towns would run the league flooded my mind.
After LaVine’s departure, Wolves fans could still drool over their young duo. On the other hand, D’Angelo Russell was busy trying to save his career. He was labeled a bust, a snitch, and unplayable in his two-year stint on the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell was determined to make a name for himself with the Brooklyn Nets. He rejuvenated his career with a 21-4-7 season, leading the Nets to the playoffs in the 2018-19 season.
Gersson Rosas courted Russell after two years in Brooklyn, knowing he had an opportunity to reunite Towns with his friend. The Nets were trying to land Kevin Durant, and Russell wasn’t part of their long-term future. In a star-driven league, it was in Rosas’ best interest to try to keep KAT happy in Minnesota.
It was also clear that Wiggins, 25, needed to be moved. Rosas wasn’t going to be able to build a contender around KAT and Wigg. Russell balked at coming to Minnesota and signed with the Golden State Warriors. But Rosas was persistent, and he eventually landed his guy.
Rosas sent Wiggins, a 2021 top-three protected first-round pick, and a second-round pick in exchange for Russell, Omari Spellman, and Jacob Evans III. The trade that sparked a new era in Minnesota was ultimately a loss for the Wolves, and that’s okay.
But what is a loss? In 2018, a loss meant not potentially making the playoffs for the Wolves. However, in 2020 a loss meant being one step closer to drafting Anthony Edwards.
It’s not insane to think that Rosas may have thought he lost the trade, but it didn’t matter to him. Yes, DLo’s contract was probably paying him too much. And yes, that first-round pick was extremely valuable. But what was Rosas gonna do? Continue to sit on Wiggins and lose until Towns asks out?
As Bon Jovi once said, “you can’t win ’til you’re not afraid to lose.”
No matter your opinion on the DLo trade, were the Wolves going 46-36 this season with Wiggins and whoever they drafted with the seventh overall pick last year? No, of course not.
As Russell and the Wolves enter their offseason, the Warriors and Wiggins are gearing up for their sixth NBA finals in 10 years. With Wiggins’ 27 and 11 performance in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, you could say that the Wolves were holding Wiggins back. But the problem is, Wiggins never lacked the ability to score or defend.
The Warriors don’t need him to be the first option like the Wolves did. They need him to be the fourth or fifth, which is where he fits best. Similarly, the Warriors didn’t need Russell to be their point guard. He was essentially a consolation prize for losing Kevin Durant to the Nets that offseason.
Unlike the Warriors, the Wolves needed a point guard. A team that hadn’t had a high-level facilitator since Ricky Rubio was getting desperate. Sometimes desperation can irreparably harm a franchise, like Brooklyn’s 2013 trade for Kevin Garnett. Sometimes it can bring a franchise to heights not seen since the ’70s, like the Milwaukee Bucks’ trade for Jrue Holiday in 2020.
Unfortunately, most desperation trades don’t work out. The Wolves should count themselves lucky their desperation trade only resulted in the loss of a seventh overall pick.
With the defensive skills former teammate Draymond Green helped DLo develop in Golden State, Russell started leading the Wolves to not only their best net rating season since the early 2000s. He also reignited a Wolves defense that had been dormant for most of the 2010s.
No rational fan will call the 2021-22 Wolves season a failure. Behind the veil of blown playoff leads rested a young team ahead of schedule. The Wolves were 10 wins over their Vegas prediction and gave the 2-seeded Memphis Grizzlies trouble. They weren’t supposed to be there, yet they were.
Russell’s maturity, compassion, and fit outweighed Wiggins tenfold. Russell embodies what the Wolves were trying to do under Chris Finch. DLo was more in a facilitator role than a typical scoring role, something Wiggins has yet to show he’s capable of. While Chris Finch had to get creative with Russell’s defensive shortcomings, he was always willing to put the effort in.
DLo didn’t play well against Memphis and got scapegoated. His 12 points, seven assists, and three rebounds a game certainly didn’t live up to his hefty four-year $117 million contract. But we quickly forgot Russell’s season-saving performance in the play-in game, where he dropped 29, six, and five against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Although the Wolves lost the trade two years ago, it led to success. It’s possible to lose a trade while also making your roster better. For Wiggins and Russell, it was best to move on. The Wolves hadn’t sniffed success since Tom Thibodeau’s ill-fated Jimmy Butler-centric team, and the Warriors had no long-term plan for Russell.
For the Wolves, the wrong answer was the best answer. But they were determined to win or die trying.
