D’Angelo Russell and the Minnesota Timberwolves had an unfortunate end to the 2021-22 NBA season. The team collapsed repeatedly in their series loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Russell was relegated to the bench in the decisive moments of the final game. For the series, Russell averaged 12.0 points per game on 33.3% shooting, not up to his standard.
Still, Russell is an established point guard in the NBA. He has scoring talent, passing talent, and a well-established clutch gene. Should rumors of a rift between Russell and the Timberwolves be true, teams should be eager to line up for a trade. A perfect destination might be the New York Knicks.
According to Marc Stein, some rival teams expect the Minnesota Timberwolves to look to trade D’Angelo Russell during the upcoming season, despite his relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns.
“Numerous rival teams expect the Wolves to try to trade Russell this offseason irrespective of Russell’s close relationship with Minnesota star Karl-Anthony Towns.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Best & Worst Point Guard Options For New York Knicks To Consider
The New York Knicks jump out as a potential destination. After a playoff appearance in 2021, the Knicks missed the playoffs in 2022. The team’s biggest issue was a hole at point guard — one that the acquisition of Kemba Walker was unable to fill.
Russell has the potential to bring star power to the New York Knicks, something that’s been missing since the days of Carmelo Anthony. With his scoring and passing talent, Russell will be able to lead the offense comfortably. He can ease the scoring load for Julius Randle, who struggled to follow up his breakout year in 2021.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Best & Worst Point Guard Options For New York Knicks To Consider
D’Angelo Russell has a large contract in the neighborhood of $30 million for 2023. Still, the New York Knicks could send a duo of Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose to make a deal work. They have plenty of trade-able contracts, so they’d make a natural trade partner should Minnesota look to move on.
