Warriors reportedly turned down two first-round picks for D'Angelo Russell
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, and teams are scrambling to get their trade packages together. That way, when those packages are rejected, they have enough time to come up with a plan B.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of those teams. They’re apparently determined to trade for D’Angelo Russell of the Golden State Warriors so they can pair him with Karl-Anthony Towns, but Warriors are driving a hard bargain.
The Timberwolves don’t have all the pieces to make this trade for the Warriors, so they reportedly started contacting other teams so they could get those pieces. According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Timberwolves recently started talking to Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks about a three-team trade. The Timberwolves would send Robert Covington to the Rockets, Clint Capela would go from the Rockets to the Hawks, and the Hawks would send the Brooklyn Nets’ 2020 first-round pick to the Timberwolves.
All of that was to set up the Timberwolves’ trade offer to the Warriors. They reportedly offered the Nets’ 2020 first-round pick and their own 2020 first-round pick to the Warriors in exchange for Russell, but the Warriors weren’t buying. According to O’Connor, Golden State rejected the offer.
Until a deal is made or the deadline passes, we’re bound to hear even more Russell trade rumors. But how do the rumors affect Russell himself? He recently spoke to The Athletic about that very topic and revealed that while it can be difficult, he’s made his peace with it.
“When I got drafted, I was in a rumor,” Russell said. “I’ve been through it all. Not gonna lie to you. Any rumor you can think of, I’ve been a part of it. I’ve seen it (the last couple days). I can’t get away from it. You go on social, you see it. You go on TV, you hear it. You talk to the media, they ask you about it. Ain’t no getting away from it. But it is what it is.”
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