NBA rumors: 5 teams who could trade for Russell Westbrook

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

New Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has professed the idea of aggressiveness early in his tenure. While it didn’t immediately work out,  the courtship of De’Angelo Russell proved the new front office regime will not sit on its hands and be content with a tough cap situation this offseason.

In terms of salary matching in a deal for Westbrook, Minnesota combines the ability to do so pretty easily with the idea of at least one intriguing player who could capture Oklahoma City’s attention.

The Thunder could envision a young backcourt of Wiggins and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (coming via the George trade). Jeff Teague is entering the final year of his contract, and Gorgui Dieng has battled inconsistent playing time as he has failed to even remotely justify his contract. If Oklahoma City trades Steven Adams as part of their reloading, with rumors suggesting they were looking to do so dating back to just before the draft in June, Dieng would be a candidate to start.

In this scenario, the Wolves would get rid of the three players who most represent their bad cap sheet. They’d have to include a first-round pick (or two) to sweeten that pot.

On the other hand, with the realistic mechanics of it unclear, a sign-and-trade scenario involving sending restricted free agent Tyus Jones to the Thunder seems possible. That would necessarily decrease the draft pick compensation required, since Jones would be regarded as a future building block in Oklahoma City.