Although the Timberwolves won a playoff ticket through the playoffs, in the first round against the Second Grizzlies of the West, the Timberwolves repeatedly missed a good game of big scores, and yesterday they were once again reversed by the Grizzlies by 13 points, and in the case of 8 points, they also lost to opponents by an aggregate score of 2-4, unfortunately encountering the dilemma of the first round.
Russell's playoff slump and the Timberwolves suffer their first round
As the "veteran" of this Timberwolves, the 26-year-old Russell's performance in this series is not ideal, averaging only 12 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, shooting a pitiful 33.3%, in yesterday's life and death battle, Russell scored only 7 points in the whole game, which can be said to be the "culprit" that led to the Timberwolves' first-round exit. Compared to the calm commander who averaged 18.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game in the regular season, the second playoff trip of his career, Russell's downturn, did hurt the Timberwolves.
The Warriors played a masterpiece in his career, but Russell was put on the trade shelf by the team and sent to the Timberwolves
Watching Russell's downturn in the Timberwolves, the biggest beneficiary of this may really belong to the Golden State Warriors, dating back to the 19-20 season, when Russell had just switched from the Nets to the Warriors, and at that time, the team was in a serious injury wave, Russell was also entrusted with heavy responsibility by Kerr, playing for the team in 33 games. He can average a career-best 23.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, seemingly playing an All-Star level performance again, but the Warriors do not want to continue to leave his ideas, after all, there are already two absolute cores of the splash brothers in the backcourt position, and then a guard who needs the ball, a little careless, will cause the dilemma of "three monks without water".
So when Russell was at the highest point of the trade value, the Warriors decisively chose to put it on the trading shelf, before the trade deadline, the Warriors packed Russell, Spelman, Evans, and got Wiggins, a first-round pick and a second-round pick from the Timberwolves, and the two draft picks seemed insignificant at the time, but in the NBA draft 2 years later, the Warriors relied on this precious first-round pick to pick up potential rising star Cuminga in the 7th pick in the first round. Thus allowing the team to gain a gem player this season.
With Wiggins & Cumminga in the Russell trade, the Warriors have both strength and future
Although Wiggins suffered a huge decline in scoring per game after switching to the Warriors, under Kerr's tuning, he gradually became an indispensable and important 3D for the team, because Klay's return from injury and Poole's sudden rise, Wiggins's ball power has been far inferior to that of the Timberwolves, but in this playoff, Wiggins can still efficiently score 14 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal 0.8 blocks per game, and the three-point shooting rate is 53.8% or even 52.9% The shooting percentage is even higher. With him such a forward line with both attack and defense, the pressure on the three cores of splash brothers and dream green at both ends of the attack and defense will also be greatly reduced.
As for Cuminga, who was given by the Timberwolves, although he did not play too brightly in this playoff, in the regular season, he once sat in the team's main rotation position, or he could efficiently deliver 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time, shooting a shooting rate of 51.3%, as a potential new star who is only 19 years old, as long as the Warriors are willing to give opportunities, I believe that Cuminga will definitely have great achievements in the future.