NBA Rumors: Timberwolves’ ‘Best Offer’ To GSW For D’Angelo Russell Includes Teague, Covington & 1st-Rounders

Since the 2019 NBA offseason, rumors have continued to swirl that the Golden State Warriors would be trading All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell before the February trade deadline. One of the teams who has been frequently linked to Russell is the Minnesota Timberwolves. According to Ben Beecken of Fansided’s Dunking With Wolves, though they were snubbed by Russell in the 2019 free agency, the Timberwolves remain “prime candidates” to trade for the former No. 2 overall pick during the season.

It’s definitely not a surprise that the Timberwolves are considered one of the potential suitors of Russell before the February trade deadline. The Timberwolves have a plethora of trade assets to engage in a blockbuster deal and could offer a combination of a quality role player and a future draft pick to the Warriors in exchange for Russell.

As Beecken noted, the “best offer” that the Timberwolves could make is the trade package that includes Jeff Teague, Robert Covington, and two future first-round picks.

“The Warriors pick up one of the league’s best 3-and-D defenders on a fantastic contract in Covington. RoCo is owed less than $13 million in each of the next two seasons and would be a perfect fit for the Warriors system when Thompson and Curry come back healthy. Teague would fill in this year for the injured Curry and could either be flipped at the February trade deadline or allowed to expire during the summer.”

The proposed trade deal would enable the Warriors to acquire three things that most teams would demand in exchange for a player of Russell’s caliber: salary cap relief, a quality role player, and future draft assets. Teague would allow them to open up a huge chunk of their salary cap space in the summer of 2020, while Covington would give the Warriors a defensive-minded big man who could complement the explosive backcourt duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

The future draft picks would enable the Warriors to add more young and promising talents or they could use the picks as trade chips to further improve their roster next summer.

Trading all those valuable assets would undeniably be a tough decision for the Timberwolves, but it would definitely be worth it if it means acquiring an All-Star-caliber point guard who perfectly fits the timeline of the face of the franchise, Karl-Anthony Towns. Russell hasn’t shown that he’s not happy in Golden State, but he recently revealed that he, Towns, and Devin Booker are dreaming of playing together in one team.

If the three rising superstars push through with their plan sooner rather than later, the Timberwolves should do everything they can to turn their dream into a reality.