Minnesota Timberwolves: What if D’Angelo Russell trade never happened?

The Minnesota Timberwolves made one of their most consequential trades before the trade deadline back in 2020 when they made the decision to trade starting forward Andrew Wiggins and a 2021 first round pick to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for D’Angelo Russell.

Minnesota Timberwolves: What if D’Lo trade never happened?

The Timberwolves, at the time, were in need of a point guard, and Russell, the Timberwolves second established star after the trade, is what Gersson Rosas envisioned to be that point guard.

Now, a week before the 2021 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors have both the 7th and 14th picks in the first-round, one of which the Timberwolves were responsible for. Minnesota, who finished as the 6th-worst team in basketball, had their pick convey to the Steph Curry-Klay Thompson-led Warriors.

But what if the Minnesota Timberwolves never made the D’Angelo Russell trade to begin with?

One of the first things that could have been altered was the way that the Timberwolves and general manager Gersson Rosas went about making the first overall pick in the 2020 Draft. Without any clear roadblocks to selecting a point guard and D’Angelo Russell’s reported hesitancy in a backcourt fit alongside Ball, Rosas may have actually preferred him with the pick over Edwards – especially since Ball was mentioned in rumors regarding the first overall pick before Edwards was official.

LaMelo Ball, playing alongside Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns would have been really fun, but Edwards clearly still fits in Minnesota and is an exciting young star. We’ll call the 2020 NBA Draft a net even.

What is not even, however, is the 2021 NBA Draft. Because no matter who the Warriors select, it will end up being better than the Timberwolves’ pick this year – nobody – because Golden State owns the 7th selection courtesy of Minnesota.

To keep things simple, we will say that the Wolves finish with the same record as our real timeline, despite keeping Andrew Wiggins and not having Russell in this alternate scenario.

However, a safe bet, should the Timberwolves have actually kept the selection, would be Franz Wagner, a combo forward from Michigan with a pro-ready skill set that consists of shooting, complementary playmaking, and solid positional defense.

Assuming the Timberwolves still make the Robert Covington and Ricky Rubio trades in this alternate timeline, the Timberwolves new roster would consist of:

PG: LaMelo Ball, Ricky Rubio
SG: Malik Beasley, Leandro Bolmaro
SF: Andrew Wiggins, Franz Wagner
PF: Jaden McDaniels, Jarred Vanderbilt (RFA)
C: Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid

Obviously, that is not to say the Timberwolves would be in a better place had they not made the trade. In contrast, though, they would have more assets under their control, and possibly more certainty regarding their future.

Take this discussion with a grain of salt, as it is just a thought exercise.