Building out Timberwolves’ swap of Russell and Lowry
Kyle Lowry hasn’t had the impact on the Miami Heat that the team hoped for, but he still brings a lot to the table and has championship experience that the current Timberwolves roster can’t claim. He is under contract for another season, which means the Wolves would get a year and a half to evaluate his fit alongside Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Here’s what a deal could look like:
D’Angelo Russell makes slightly more than Lowry, so this deal also brings back Dewayne Dedmon to balance things out. He can serve as center insurance while Karl-Anthony Towns is out, or he can be waived to seek a new team on the buyout market.
For the Miami Heat, doing this deal means getting younger and finding another starter who lines up with the Tyler Herro / Bam Adebayo timeline. Russell is on an expiring contract, so the Heat would have the flexibility to either re-sign him or let him walk and use the cap flexibility elsewhere. Having cap space in Miami is a very different proposition than having it in Minnesota.