The Minnesota Timberwolves landed D'Angelo Russell ahead of the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, sending Andrew Wiggins and a couple of draft picks to the Golden State Warriors.
Russell is well-known to be very close friends with Karl-Anthony Towns, who had previously expressed his displeasure with his situation in Minnesota this season.
The Timberwolves made a strong push to nab Russell in free agency this past summer, but the Warriors ultimately netted him in a sign-and-trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
During his introductory press conference on Friday, Russell noted how he and Towns had joked about playing with one another this past offseason, and now, it has become a reality, and Russell called it “a dream come true” to be playing with his friend:
"To wake up and see the situation that I’m in and feel the love of somebody wanting me to be here … it’s a surreal moment for me right now."
—D'Angelo Russell on playing with Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota pic.twitter.com/iTh3rSZmrX
— ESPN (@espn) February 7, 2020
The Timberwolves will mark Russell's fourth team since entering the NBA as a No. 2 overall pick of the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2015.
After two seasons with the Lakers, Russell was traded to the Nets, as Los Angeles was attempting to make room for Lonzo Ball, whom LA had taken with the second overall pick in 2017.
Russell spent two years in Brooklyn and had a breakout season of sorts last year, averaging 21.1 points per game. The soon-to-be-24-year-old parlayed that into a max contract with the Warriors over the summer, going to the Dubs as part of the Kevin Durant swap.
However, there was always a general sense that Golden State signed Russell to trade him, which is exactly what the Dubs did. Now, Russell will get to play with one of his best friends as a result in Minnesota.
Russell and Towns have a tall task ahead of them when it comes to turning around a moribund Timberwolves squad. Minnesota is sitting at 15-35 on the season thanks to a 13-game losing streak.
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