D’Angelo Russell’s sign-and-trade was seen as a coup for the Golden State Warriors in the offseason, especially as they risked losing Kevin Durant for nothing. He didn’t even last a full season.
Now, he’s on the way from the Bay Area to Minnesota to join BFF Karl Anthony-Towns, a rare case of a player who signs a max contract and doesn’t even start a second with the team that gave him so much money.
If that scenario sounds a bit absurd to you, that’s because it truly is. I can’t, for the life of me, think of another max player that got traded so quickly.
Russell was for some, an answer to how the Warriors would stay afloat in a competitive Western Conference after losing Klay Thompson for the season due to injury along with Durant and Andre Iguodala leaving the team entirely.
Fate had other plans, though, as Russell never had a chance to establish a rhythm with Steph Curry, who broke his hand in October of last year. Russell wanted to join a winning team, but he never really found a fit, even as the floor general after Curry’s injury.
It might work out in the end, though. He fills a serious need for the Timberwolves, and being paired up with a close friend might bring out the best out of him.
Plus, you know, he won’t have get yelled at for fucking up on offense by ‘Big Daddy’ Draymond Green any more.
The Warriors are definitely taking a gamble after trading Russell for the mercurial Andrew Wiggins, who is having a resurgent year. However, the trade also makes sense if the Warriors are looking toward accepting the 2019-20 season as a lost one and aiming to get things back on track next year.
Wiggins fits in better from a positional perspective, and the Warriors will be able to field a quadruple-threat team that includes Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, and Green.
You could slot just about anyone else there, like talented rookie Eric Paschall. That might turn out to be another vaunted ‘Death Lineup’. We won’t know for sure until next year.
It just seems completely absurd, though. It’s another great reminder that the NBA is a business first, and there’s no loyalty even to people who get max money.
D-Lo’s Warriors career really fell off a cliff. That’s all right, though. The bandwagon fans that barely got to know him and probably won’t miss him.
