It’s time for Minnesota Timberwolves to move on from D’Angelo Russell

Minnesota Timberwolves D'Angelo Russell Karl-Anthony Towns (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Minnesota Timberwolves D'Angelo Russell Karl-Anthony Towns (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves D'Angelo Russell
Minnesota Timberwolves D’Angelo Russell. Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images /

2. Salary

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in a pretty good spot right now in terms of cap space. They’re about $15 million over the $109 million salary cap, but they are still $7 million below the luxury tax level. This would allow them to pick up some essential role players in free agency.

However, if they traded for Russell, his massive contract could sit heavily on the shoulders of the Timberwolves. This season alone Russell is owed $27.2 million, which is over $4 million more than the combined salaries that he’s made in his career.

The salary, as well as what he is owed over the next three seasons, would make growth difficult for Minnesota. Russell would quickly become one of the highest-paid members of the organization and if he didn’t produce at the level he did in 2018-19, it’d be a hard payment to justify after years of Wiggins operating in the same scenario.