It was clear that the Golden State Warriors will once again figure in yet another challenging season the moment Klay Thompson's MRI results were released. The Dubs, after all, lost one of the best two-way players in the game today for the second season in a row.
As their string of bad luck continues this season, most fans can't help but wonder what if the Warriors just kept D'Angelo Russell instead of sending him to the Minnesota Timberwolves in that deal for Andrew Wiggins.
While an offensive weapon of Thompson's caliber is virtually irreplaceable, it's crazy to think that the Dubs actually had one guy on that roster last season who could have easily filled in the void they're experiencing right now. Russell actually donned the Warriors colors for 33 games in 2019-20.
He was originally brought in as another All-Star who could spice up the team's backcourt following the departure of Kevin Durant. D'Lo, however, never even got the chance to become that third Splash Brother after Thompson and Stephen Curry nursed their respective injuries.
D'Lo notched 23.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists during his rather forgettable stint in The Bay. While he emerged as the team's top scorer during that stretch, most pundits felt he played way too similar to Stephen Curry. The Dubs were quick to give up on their offseason investment and publicly shopped him around to other teams.
The Minnesota Timberwolves badly wanted to reunite Russell with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns, sending Andrew Wiggins, a protected 2021 first-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick for his services. Minny even took in Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman to complete that blockbuster deal last February.
Sure, getting the two first-rounders was nice and gave Golden State some valuable assets for the future. But basically flipping Russell for the underachieving Wiggins was indeed a head-scratcher at the time.
Fast forward to the start of 2020-21 season, and that trade still doesn't make sense up to now. Russell's fit alongside the Dubs' superstars may have been questionable, but at least he has already proven himself in this league.
Wig, on the other hand, never realized that extremely high ceiling ever since he entered the NBA in 2014. The narrative was maybe the Canadian high-flyer just needed a change of scenery in Oakland to fulfill that promise.
However, it's evident that he's still the same ineffective one-dimensional scorer that the Wolves badly wanted to get rid off. The 6-foot-7 swingman notched 12.5 points on 29.4 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from deep in Golden State's first two games. He fared a bit better in their first win over the Chicago Bulls, with 19 points and 9 rebounds. However, this came via another subpar shooting clip – 6 makes on 15 attempts.
With Wiggins figuring in mediocre outings, it's no surprise they dropped both matches in blowout fashion. D'Lo, meanwhile, has already transformed the T'Wolves to a much better team.
Most pundits had the Wolves as the clear winners of that Russell-Wiggins trade last February. Judging by how both teams have fared so far, looks like those predictions were on point.
The Golden State front office is usually lauded for their roster decisions, but they definitely dropped the ball on this one. They did not have to make a drastic changes last year, especially since they figured in a lost season. But perhaps the pressure of losing caused the Dubs brass to panic a little bit, which led to their uncharacteristically risky decision. The jury is still out for now, but the case for Andrew Wiggins is not looking good.
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