D'Angelo Russell counts the Golden State Warriors as his third NBA team in a span of four seasons in the league. He landed at the Bay Area through a deal that saw Kevin Durant jumping to Brooklyn and him winning a $117 million super-max. However, before getting to where he is now Russell flirted with the possibility of rejoining the Lakers.
Russell too toyed with the idea of heading to Minnesota. Reports said the Warriors guard had already agreed in principle to play with the Timberwolves, but events overtook that plan.
As NBC Sports reported, Russell was in the middle of negotiating with Timberwolves when the hot information got out that the Dubs have all but sealed a deal with the Nets. KD will next don the Brooklyn uniform, and in exchange, the Warriors will be absorbing the former Lakers.
"On the helicopter trip back, good vibes in the air, news broke of Russell's near agreement with the Warriors," the report said.
It was rather an embarrassing scene on Russell's part, but the feeling of awkwardness soon disappeared with the realization of a huge paycheck that exceeded the reported offer from the Timberwolves. The contract presented to him was in the neighborhood of $100 million.
The same figures were also in the offer sheet that the Lakers had prepared in a maneuver that would have seen the return of Russell to Los Angeles.
According to CBS Sports, the Lakers have made clear they want Russell back but had to wait out on the final decision of Kawhi Leonard. Now it can be said that at the same time that the LA club was plotting a homecoming for Russell, landing Leonard and luring him out of Toronto last summer was the top priority.
The NBA champ took his sweet time, and the Lakers patiently waited, and for nothing. In the end, Leonard picked the other side of LA and went for the Clippers. All along, it turned out; he wanted to team up with Paul George, so the Clippers were the logical choice.
Leonard slipped out of the Lakers' hand, and so was Russell. While everyone was holding breath on where Leonard was heading, the Warriors swooped in. KD was dropped on the Nets, and Russell was handed a check that read: $117.3 million.
Save for the disappointment by the Lakers, for missing out both on Leonard and Russell; it was a happy ending.
Not exactly, as claimed by NBC in a separate report. While Russell has now started to settle on his new camp, he knew that his stay in the Bay Area could abruptly end. He can be traded anytime, and there's nothing he can do about it.
"You know, that's what sucks more than anything... That's kind of what I'm doing now though. I'm kind of just putting two feet into the house that I'm in now... I want to dial in and be home... But at the same time, I understand it is what it is," Russell was reported as saying.
