NBA: Looking back at the 5 worst trades of the decade so far

5. D’Angelo Russell to the Wolves

The second this trade was made, it was a disaster. In defense of the Wolves, know with hindsight that Wiggins turned into an awesome role player with the Warriors, but that does not mean he was ever worth his bloated contract. Still…

Russell had already proven himself a good stats-bad team guy, so a Wiggins-Russell swap should have been agreeable for both parties. The Wolves including in a lightly protected pick that everyone and their grandmother know would eventually convey in the single digits, stunted the Wolves’ ability to carry out a proper rebuild.

Of course, the Wolves got the first pick overall in 2020 and drafted Anthony Edwards, but then had to surrender the seventh pick in 2021 to the Warriors. If they had controlled that pick themselves, they might have dared to be even worse and had another top-five pick for themselves to surround Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns.