The latest Minnesota Timberwolves offseason rumor involves one of the biggest stars in the NBA, whose future was thrown into peril just over 24 hours ago – Russell Westbrook.
Just a day after Kevin Durant chose to join Steph Curry by agreeing to sign with Golden State, the internet is buzzing about the future of Durant’s former teammate and one of the teams rumored to have interest is none other than the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Westbrook is looking to become a free agent by this time next season – rather than waiting to get burned by him, like they did by Durant, it would seem Oklahoma City could be shopping the young star.
And it appears there are plenty of potential suitors.
The Lakers, Celtics, Timberwolves and Rockets are just a few of the teams linked to the 27-year-old guard. He averaged 23.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game while teaming with Durant last season.
Who would Minnesota have to give up?
One trade scenario outlined by FOX Sports.com, would send Westbrook to the Wolves along with teammate Anthony Morrow for Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad and Ricky Rubio.
However, given the potential suitors, The Sporting News suggests the Wolves would have to be willing to part with Andrew Wiggins.
The tricky part for Minnesota would be regardless of who they gave up, they’d have to get assurances from Westbrook that he’d be willing to re-sign with the Wolves – that’s far from a sure bet at this point.
Even for Twitter standards, the amount of people who think Westbrook would re-sign here no problem is astonishing. #twolves
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 5, 2016
Told emphatically by league source there's no chance Russell Westbrook will do a renegotiation/extension of his contract (one yr remaining).
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 4, 2016
We’ll keep our eyes on this one as it develops over the next few days.
