NBA free agency officially opens at 5 p.m. Central Time. Will the Wolves be active early and trade Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague or Gorgui Dieng. Will they find a way to get Nets points guard D’Angelo Russell?
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Russell has the Wolves at the top of his list.
“Minnesota is at the top of D’Angelo Russell’s free-agent wish list as the opening bell nears, league sources say — with the Timberwolves increasingly confident they can make the necessary salary-cap moves to land him,” wrote Stein in a tweet, then adding:
“The Lakers’ interest in D’Angelo Russell is undeniable, league sources say, but Minnesota has made the All-Star guard its top priority in free agency knowing that the Nets mere hours away from the momentous addition of Kyrie Irving.”
To get Russell, the Wolves need to clear at least $22 million cap space, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. More details from Krawczynski here (paywall).
The 23-year-old point guard averaged just over 21 points per game and shot 36.9% from 3-point range during his All-Star season with the Nets in 2018-19. In Minnesota, he could be teamed up with his good friend, Karl-Anthony Towns.
Big questions could be answered Sunday, and the rumors are expected to be endless as the day progresses. Here are some of the other reports floating around the web.
Wolves are meeting with D’Angelo Russell
According to multiple reports, the Wolves will meet with Russell. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was on SportsCenter Saturday night and mentioned the Lakers and Wolves as potential landing spots for Russell, but he cautioned that L.A.’s primary target is Kawhi Leonard. If they don’t get Leonard, they could aggressively go after Russell.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson says the meeting between the Wolves and Russell will happen in L.A., and Minnesota will be represented by Gersson Rosas (team president), head coach Ryan Saunders and Karl-Anthony Towns, who is good friends with Russell.
Russell expected to become an unrestricted free agent
Currently a restricted free agent, the Nets are planning to make Russell unrestricted once they finalize a deal with free-agent point guard Kyrie Irving, according to Wojnarowski.
The Lakers have the cap space available to sign Russell to a maximum contract. The Wolves do not, so they’d have to work out a sign-and-trade with the Nets and a third team in order to clear enough cap space to give Russell a long-term deal.
