Report: Warriors Were 'Eager' to Move D'Angelo Russell in Andrew Wiggins Trade

It appears D'Angelo Russell wore out his welcome quickly in the Bay Area.  

The Golden State Warriors pulled off one of the NBA's biggest trades ahead of Thursday's deadline when they sent D'Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a deal that netted Andrew Wiggins.

According to The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II, the Warriors saw "[getting] rid of Russell" as part of the justification behind the move:

"The Warriors, as much as anything with this move, gave up on Russell. Seven months after they contorted the entire franchise into a pretzel to get him, five months after he showed up to camp, the Warriors abandoned The Russell Project. They were so eager to get rid of him that they are embracing a player considered to be on one of the worst contracts in the league."

This was always a marriage of convenience to some extent. Golden State needed a guard to fill in for Klay Thompson as he recovers from a torn ACL, and a sign-and-trade with the Brooklyn Nets involving Kevin Durant allowed the team to add a max-level free agent when it otherwise wouldn't have had the chance to do so.

A Russell trade felt like the likeliest outcome, too. Thompson is coming back eventually, and fitting him on the court with Russell and Stephen Curry would've presented head coach Steve Kerr with some headaches.

Still, that the Warriors offloaded the 2019 All-Star now is surprising.

His stats are basically on par with his breakout season in Brooklyn. He's averaging 23.6 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 43.0 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Russell's contributions haven't helped the Warriors get out of last place in the Western Conference, though. In his piece, Thompson also alluded to his poor defense and lack of effort away from the ball on offense: "He didn't instill confidence in the leaders of the franchise that he would figure it out."

Throw in the $90 million owed to Russell over the next three years and Golden State may have misread the situation in the offseason.

ESPN's Zach Lowe reported his market was generally cool with the exception of the Timberwolves' interest.

"I just don't think D'Angelo Russell has a lot of trade value," he said on The Lowe Post podcast (h/t RealGM). "I know D'Angelo Russell doesn't have a lot of trade value. I think they maybe got one other hard offer for him that was not close to this."

Still only 23, Russell is now on his fourth team since entering the league as the No. 2 overall pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015.

Holding his exit from the Nets against him would be unfair because the writing was on the wall when Brooklyn pursued and eventually signed Durant and Kyrie Irving. But the Lakers traded him after he betrayed the trust of teammate Nick Young, and now the Warriors sent him packing before the All-Star break—while taking on a huge contract in the process.

Russell is close friends with Karl-Anthony Towns, and the Timberwolves were in desperate need of a point guard as they deal with a 13-game losing streak. Plus, Russell's friendship with Towns might provide him a level of comfort he hasn't experienced much in his NBA career.

Still, his brief time in Golden State underscores the risk Minnesota is taking by making him one of the franchise cornerstones.