Why this trade that never happened may haunt the Timberwolves’ season

After 10 games of regular season action, the Minnesota Timberwolves have left something to be desired with their on-court production. Sure, a 5-5 record is far from the end of the world for a club full of players that are learning how to mesh with each other, but there’s been more than a few concerning developments that have come with their subpar win-loss record.

One of the most notable has been the play of the Timberwolves’ starting point guard, D’Angelo Russell. After coming up small in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, Minnesota fans were hoping to see a swift and decisive turnaround for D-Lo to start the 2022-23 season. With more talent around him than ever before, it seemed like he would have a great chance to make a statement early.

But unfortunately, it’s largely been more of the same struggles for Russell through 10 games. He’s had a few exceptional outings, but his averages are beyond concerning. For the season, D-Lo is averaging 13.4 points per game on 38/28/75% shooting splits.

No matter how you look at it, 38% shooting from your starting point guard means something has to change. Some have even suggested that Russell is currently holding the team back, and it’s not a far-fetched take.

The Minnesota Timberwolves nearly traded Russell in June

These discussions of D’Angelo Russell’s struggles make it hard not to remember the 2022 offseason, when the Minnesota Timberwolves were supposedly in talks to acquire the San Antonio Spurs’ All-Star point guard, Dejounte Murray. Ultimately, the Wolves decided to go all-in on Rudy Gobert instead, missing out on the young stud.

While D’Angelo Russell still has a chance to turn his season around, it’s disappointing to think that Minnesota could potentially be in a much better place at the point guard position if they had made this move in the summer. Murray, now with the Atlanta Hawks, is having a monster start to his season, averaging 22 points and 8.1 assists per game.

Details surrounding a hypothetical deal between Minnesota and San Antonio were never revealed during the offseason, but it’s hard to think Russell wouldn’t have been involved in the package somehow.

Dejounte Murray would have raised the Timberwolves’ ceiling

With Murray now thriving in Atlanta, Timberwolves fans are left to ponder how things could be different if their team had landed him instead. The Hawks acquired Dejounte in June by giving up three first-round picks, one less than Minnesota gave up when they traded for Rudy Gobert.

If a similar package had been put together by the Timberwolves to acquire Murray, the team may have been able to retain one or more of Jarred Vanderbilt, Patrick Beverley, or Malik Beasley, seeing as the Hawks only gave up one player in their trade.

Being able to upgrade at point guard while retaining high-level role players could have been the better bet for Minnesota over giving up more picks and players for Gobert. After all, Murray is one of the most talented two-way guards in the league. Adding him to last year’s core of players could have elevated this group in a major way.

In the end, we’ll never know how a hypothetical Dejounte Murray trade would have worked out. But with D’Angelo Russell’s current struggles, it’s safe to say the idea is haunting the minds of Timberwolves fans everywhere.