Timberwolves Trade Rumors: 3 reasons to love the DLo deal
By Bret Stuter
The Minnesota Timberwolves did pull the trigger on a beat-the-clock NBA Trade that gets in with just hours to spare before the NBA Trade Deadline. As reported earlier by multiple sources, the trade will reportedly involve the Minnesota Timberwolves, the LA Lakers, and the Utah Jazz. The deal happened quickly, most likely a direct result of the Lakers being motivated to deal G Russell Westbrook away as quickly as possible after a halftime altercation occured between the player and Lakers head coach Darvin Ham:
ESPN Sources: Lakers G Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a brief, heated verbal exchange in the halftime locker room on Tuesday vs. OKC. Ham expressed frustration with how Westbrook lingered on the playing floor after getting subbed out of game late in second quarter.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023
That motivated the Lakers to lure other teams to the table. So what brings the Jazz and the TImberwolves into the deal? For the Timberwolves, the team and DLo were reportedly far apart on any extension negotiations, and the team needed a true point guard to run their floor. While Conley is not as hot of a scorer right now, he is a far better facilitator, a player who can get the basketball into the hands of the open shooter.
What lured the Jazz to this deal?
For the Utah Jazz, this is another opportunity to acquire a first-round draft pick, offload two promising players who were helping the team win, and eventually buy out Russell Westbrook, allowing him to sign on with another team at a more fairly compensated rate.
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And so, the LA Lakers land their second and third former Timberwolves players, with both Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt now joining former teammate Patrick Beverley on the Lakers roster.
Lakers, Jazz and Timberwolves are finalizing trade sending D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt to Los Angeles, Russell Westbrook and first-round pick to Utah and Mike Conley Jr. and second-round pick compensation to Minnesota, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2023
Will this help the Timberwolves? We’ll find out soon enough. But just off the face of it, I’m feeling very good about this one. Why, well now, that’s a great question, and I’m all set to answer it in the next three slides.