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NBA trade grades: Warriors trade D’Angelo Russell to Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins

By Aaron Ferguson

The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Andrew Wiggins, left, to the Golden State Warriors for D'Angelo Russell, right. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/The East Bay Times via Getty Images)
The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Andrew Wiggins, left, to the Golden State Warriors for D'Angelo Russell, right. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/The East Bay Times via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves D’Angelo Russell (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell will join his fourth team in his fifth season, which is an odd path for a former No. 2 overall pick. Though trading Wiggins — a former No. 1 pick — allows the Timberwolves to get an elite playmaker. Over the last three seasons, Russell has had an assist rate of 35.7 percent or better. His turnover rate has dropped from 16.8 percent to 12.6 percent in that same timeframe.

Minnesota’s offensive firepower will be turned up a notch with the addition of Russell alongside Towns. Russell has elevated his game to the tune of 23.6 points and 6.2 assists per game with a shooting slash of .430/.374/.785.

The Timberwolves have paired the top-2 picks of the 2015 NBA Draft. Towns has improved his scoring and playmaking abilities up to 26.7 points and 4.2 assists per game. He’s also grabbing 10.2 rebounds per game.

More. Trade grades: Wolves send Teague to Hawks. light

He’s a threat from anywhere on the floor, converting 50.7 percent from the floor, 40.6 percent from 3-point range and is converting 80.5percent  of free-throw attempts, getting to the line 6.4 times per game.

The versatility between the two in the pick-and-roll game will give Minnesota’s offense many options as the duo sticks together. Getting Beasley a consistent role could unlock a new level of his game. He played 81 games for the Nuggets last season, getting 23.2 minutes per game. But as Denver has improved as a title contender, he fell out of the rotation on a consistent basis.

In that 2018-19 season, he had a shooting slash of .474/.402/.848 while scoring 11.3 points per game.

Grade: A+

An underrated part of this trade is getting off of Wiggins’ max contract, which owes him $94.7 million over the next three seasons. That will free up financial flexibility to add pieces around the Wolves’ new core.