The Timberwolves apparently weren't swayed by D'Angelo Russell's protracted shooting surge. The organization chose logic over emotion and recency bias. Smart move.
Those once-rosy visions of Karl-Anthony Towns and Russell becoming a dream pairing and backbone to a championship contender have long since been rendered a mirage. The Wolves are ripping up another blueprint by trading Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team pact that will bring veteran point guard Mike Conley and other assets to Minnesota.
In doing so, the Wolves shed an expensive point guard whose streakiness provided a constant tease but ultimately made him untrustworthy as a long-term answer at that critical position.
The enduring image of Russell's unfulfilling time in Minnesota will be coach Chris Finch benching his point guard in the fourth quarter of a playoff elimination game last season because he didn't trust him to be on the floor.
The Wolves didn't trust Russell in that important moment, and they didn't trust him to be their floor leader in the future. Russell did not earn that trust. He didn't deserve it.
His replacement is 35 years old and fading into the twilight of his career. Conley has a history with Rudy Gobert and is likely a better fit for what the Wolves want at point guard, but swapping Russell for Conley is not an upgrade that solves a problem.
Conley should be viewed as a stopgap option — he has another season remaining on his contract – who will allow the Wolves to remain competitive while the organization formulates a new plan at point guard.
People will debate whether Wolves President Tim Connelly got enough value in return, fueled by full-blown skepticism and concern over Connelly's acumen as a dealmaker.
The new basketball boss hasn't exactly eased into his new role. Connelly has taken a stick of dynamite to the roster. The early returns on the Gobert trade pretty much exhausted Connelly's honeymoon period. Remember, the whole rationale behind that seismic move was to make the Wolves instant contenders. That remains the basis for judging their season and Connelly's tenure.
Other NBA teams aren't dummies though. They knew the Wolves were backed into a corner with Russell, who is in a contract year but was never going to be part of their long-term plans.
The Wolves still find themselves in a weird limbo state. There is urgency to win now to justify the Gobert transaction, but they are trading their starting point guard and nobody is giving a timeline for Towns' return from injury and the team is fighting for playoff positioning in the jumbled Western Conference.
This entire season has been disjointed. Now they're entering another new phase.
Connelly's job as roster architect is to hover above game-by-game results, and any emotions that flow out of it, and formulate an honest evaluation of the team.
He had two options with Russell: 1) Keep him and risk letting him walk after the season with nothing in return, or 2) trade him to get something back.
Russell averaged 20.2 points and shot 42.5% after Towns suffered his calf injury in late November. Not coincidentally, his hot shooting coincided with Anthony Edwards assuming more of the ballhandling and facilitator duties.
Russell undeniably played better this season, but the team couldn't bank on a relatively small sample size of improved performance as proof that Russell deserved another massive contract as their point guard of the future.
As tantalizing as his hot streaks felt, the inconsistency that has marked his tenure made it impossible to buy-in completely. His cold shooting nights and defensive shortcomings cannot be minimized. Watching his ups and downs and deficiencies were exasperating.
Connelly told the Star Tribune's Chris Hine recently that "there's plenty of scenarios where he's our point guard not just now but for the future as well."
Russell's play might have made their decision more difficult, but locking into him long term was not a realistic option anymore.
The team tried an aggressive plan in bringing him here. It didn't work out as planned. Move on.
