Prior to a blockbuster trade to acquire Rudy Gobert in the offseason, the Timberwolves explored the possibility of acquiring Dejounte Murray instead, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
According to Fischer, extension talks between the Wolves and guard D’Angelo Russell went nowhere in the offseason, and there’s a belief among rival teams that Minnesota is open to moving him. It’s unclear if those extension talks came before or after the team’s interest in Murray, but clearly there was a difference of opinion on value.
A couple weeks ago, Brian Windhorst of ESPN floated a hypothetical on his Hoop Collective podcast wondering if the Wolves would consider calling the Heat about Kyle Lowry in exchange for Russell’s $31.4MM expiring contract. Lowry has one more year on his deal at $29.7MM, and Windhorst thought Miami might be open to moving him due to future luxury tax concerns, though he admitted he wasn’t sure how the Heat would view Russell’s fit.
A couple days later, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype wrote about Russell’s situation and explored the idea of Russell-Lowry swap. Russell unfollowed the Wolves on social media the same day, which raised some eyebrows.
“Yeah, it’s my life,” the Russell told Fischer of paying attention to rumors. “That’s it. Just be conscious of it.”
While neither of those instances were actual rumors, Fischer hears from sources that the Heat have actually shown interest in Russell, but says a “direct deal for Lowry would appear unlikely.” Fischer suggests the Wolves might be hesitant to acquire Lowry due to his contract and the possibility of having to extend him or risk losing him for nothing, much like their current situation with Russell.
Fischer writes that there isn’t much of a market for lead guards with large salaries, but rival executives are watching the Clippers and Suns as teams looking for backcourt upgrades. The Suns were linked to Russell a handful of years ago, and he’s close with star Devin Booker, per Fischer.
If a team trades for him they risk making a terrible move…
Only tanking teams would seriously risk having that cancer on their roster…
It’s a trade that would actually help both teams
Reality check
D-Lo to Suns trade is not happening
Suns have the budget to resign DLO next season?
5 big contracts
Booker
Ayton
Paul
Bridges
DLO
Lakers can only afford 3 big contracts
D-Lo for Russel Westbrook
No way this would happen but Russ for pat and nunn . Would love to see him back magic gave up on him too quick
Dlo, Wendell Moore and 2 seconds for Colin Sexton and Malik Beasley.
TWolves get back Sexton who is a much better fit. Can score at will at times either inside or south de the arc. When locked in he’s also a good defender and I think would fit well with ANT in the backcourt. Plus you add a guy like Beasley to be the 6th man and provide impact off the bench.
Jazz get a really good expiring contract, a former first round pick in Moore and 2 second round picks. Dlo can play Sextons role of back up guard if you want or you can give those minutes to THT, Agbaji and Moore. Moore is someone that would likely slot in above Balmaro and with the guys mentioned above getting about 15 minutes per game on average whereas right now he’s only getting about 6 minutes. The Jazz have already started to ease off on the wins dropping to 21-23 (9th) but could very easily end up 14th which is where the lakers sit at 19-23. That would mean draft pick goes from about 15th to 7th.
Combine that with the fact they also own the Twolves first and Nets first they probably want 1 of those picks to be a top tier talent, so I’d ease off on the wins and I think this is the perfect kind of backwards step. Your getting a healthy expiring deal which will free up money in FA, your getting a good young prospect and can give time to the other prospects and you also get additional second round picks.
I agree that Sexton probably isn’t a great fit with the Jazz, but I’d have to think that they could get more for him and Beasley than an expiring contract (even a good one), two seconds, and a guy who can’t crack Minnesota’s rotation. They apparently really wanted Sexton in the Mitchell trade for more than cap reasons, so they’d probably rather give him more time to fit in there than sell low on him.
I’d also be surprised if the Wolves are willing to go right back and make another trade with the Jazz lol
Yeah the obvious would be the TWolves probably wouldn’t want to deal with the Jazz again anytime soon.
And your probably right on selling low I guess it just depends on their perspective of Sexton and how they want to play out the rebuild.
Apparently they really want to resign Clarkson and I can’t really see a world in which you do a rebuild and settle on Sexton and Clarkson as your point guards. If you value Clarkson that much surely it makes sense to ship Sexton out, load up on FA cap space and picks. That way you can draft in who you actually want your franchise point guard to be and have him share minutes with Clarkson.
As for Moore, yes he’s not in the Wolves rotation but going into the draft he was a top 10 talent and even draft day was expected to be top 15 and slid to 25. Now because they have so many forwards and this huge pressure to win games it’s not been ideal for him to get minutes and learn and make mistakes. Instead he’s been throw to the end of the bench while they struggle to win. Whereas on the Jazz a rebuilding team he’d have a much better chance at minutes and thus develop better and show what he’s capable of. I just think saying “a guy who can’t crack the rotation” is just completely underselling who he is.
Murray would have been such a better fit compared to Gobert!