The Minnesota Timberwolves might just be one of the most confusing teams in the NBA right now. They shocked the league when they overpaid by a very large margin to acquire Rudy Gobert last offseason, and have struggled to make the sort of leap they were expected to make early on this season. Given their strange spot in Western Conference standings (30-29, ninth place) it was fair to wonder what they would do at the trade deadline.

The Timberwolves weren't as busy as expected, but they were involved in the big Russell Westbrook trade that saw him go from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Jazz. For Minnesota, they gave up D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley in exchange for Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and three second-round picks.

Westbrook getting traded had been a long time coming, but to see Minnesota be involved was rather confusing. Even making matters worse, their return once again did not make up for what they gave up in this deal. So let's take a look at why the Timberwolves involvement in this deal was their biggest mistake of the trade deadline, and see why that's the case.

Timberwolves 2023 NBA trade deadline mistake: Moving on from D'Angelo Russell for Mike Conley

For whatever reason, the Timberwolves have been intent on trading Russell, despite the fact he's been a solid point guard for them during his time with them. Russell was putting together one of the better seasons of his career (17.9 PPG, 6.2 APG, 2.5 RPG, 46.5 FG%) prior to getting dealt, but it still didn't dissuade the Timberwolves from moving on from him.

Regardless of their decision here, Minnesota just dumped Russell on the Lakers, giving one of their competitors for a Play-In spot a point guard that they have been looking for all season long. And in return, they didn't get nearly enough, which is why this is not only a confusing move, but a huge mistake for Minnesota.

First, in addition to getting rid of Russell for less than his value, the Timberwolves took things to another level by basically just giving the Lakers Beasley for free. Beasley hasn't been very efficient this season, but he's a solid shooter off the bench (13.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.7 APG, 39.6 FG%) and Minnesota certainly could have gotten more for him in a separate deal.

For the return, it's clear this deal just makes no sense for the Timberwolves. Conley isn't a bad player, but he's 35 years old compared to Russell being 26, and has already shown signs of regression. Conley has taken a step forward as a playmaker (7.6 assists per game is career-high for him) but he's struggling to score like he did earlier in his career.

Conley's playmaking also doesn't mean nearly as much now that he's playing alongside Anthony Edwards. Similar to how the Jazz preferred to run things through Donovan Mitchell, Minnesota wants the ball in Edwards' hands as much as possible, which will limit Conley's ability to rack up assists. And without that element to his game, Conley doesn't come close to being as valuable as Russell.

Alexander-Walker has potential, but the Timberwolves only played him for two minutes in his debut, which should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about them adding him. It's clear that Conley and Alexander-Walker do not equal Russell and Beasley in terms of talent now, and talent in the future.

Adding draft picks helps, but the one first-round pick in this deal went to Utah from L.A. because they took on Westbrook's contract, which isn't confusing in its own right, but it is if you are the Timberwolves. Why is their valuing of Russell and Beasley so low that they would accept three second-round picks? What is there to gain from that?

Not only was there no reason for the Timberwolves to trade Russell and Beasley in this deal, but they also got virtually nothing in return for him. How much longer will Conley be a viable starting option for the team? Will Alexander-Walker ever break into the rotation? And how many of those second-round picks are going to yield NBA caliber players?

There are so many question marks that Minnesota has brought upon themselves dating back to the Gobert trade, and they only added to that list with this peculiar deal. The Timberwolves accomplished their goal in a sense, but as we have seen, their judgement of those goals isn't exactly the best, and for many folks, it's abundantly clear that making this deal was a huge mistake, and it feels like only a matter of time until the Timberwolves find that out the hard way.