Gersson Rosas and the new Wolves front office fundamentally altered the foundation of the Timberwolves this week, trading Andrew Wiggins for D’Angelo Russell. Wiggins has long been a cornerstone of the franchise’s plans since the last iteration of a successful Wolves team disintegrated with the departure of Kevin Love.
Since then, we’ve been through the early years of Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Zach LaVine, the Thibs and Jimmy Butler era, and now the short-lived transition era led by the acolytes of the modern NBA. Whether the zealotry of the pace-and-space system will produce sustainable success remains to be seen, but by trading Wiggins for Russell, the Wolves have made a franchise-altering gamble.