Marc Stein: “This is all about the future for Golden State and D’Angelo Russell does not fit there whatsoever. They just wanted to make sure they didn’t see Kevin Durant, arguably the best player in the NBA when healthy, walk out that door for nothing. They got a 23-year-old All-Star and they WILL trade him, it’s just a matter of when. This was about the Warriors protecting themselves for the future.”
NBA Insider Marc Stein told The Dan Patrick Show that recently signed Golden State Warriors All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell will now turn into a trade piece for a Warriors team trying to quickly maneuver themselves away from a Kevin Durant-less era.
With Durant’s New York exodus, the team made a somewhat surprising move on Sunday, signing the former Laker and Nets point guard who had resurrected his career in Brooklyn to a reported four-year, $171 million deal.
The long term deal was a bit peculiar considering the team’s iconic backcourt of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s cemented for the future, and Thompson expected to return from an ACL tear in February.
Listen to Stein explain to Dan Patrick why Golden State’s signing of Russell was simply an insurance policy of a team looking for a quick fix with an asset, and how the team will now look to trade the 23-year-old coming off a season in which he averaged over 21.1 points and 7.0 assists.