The Golden State Warriors angle
The Golden State Warriors signing D’Angelo Russell this past offseason was about the biggest surprise free agent signing the league had seen since the Phoenix Suns signed Isaiah Thomas in 2014 while already running both Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe.
For many, the thought was that the Warriors would hold onto Russell while Klay Thompson recovered keeping the team in the playoff race, then at the trade deadline (presumably around the time that Thompson would be returning), they would trade D-Lo for a number of depth pieces and try to ride what was essentially the pre-Kevin Durant core back to the Finals.
However, since Thompson went down, Curry has also missed significant time, they lost (or traded) DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, and the team is not only nowhere near the playoffs anymore, but they own the second worst record in the league.
This rumor could be the Warriors simply trying to ratchet up offers for Russell by claiming that they would actually want to add to the roster rather than simply subtract a young, key player in D’Angelo.
Just the threat of that alone would mean that that with the addition of Towns, Russell would be in Golden State to stay for the long-haul meaning that teams that wanted either, could get neither.
Maybe too there are some behind-the-scenes rumblings that the Phoenix Suns have interest in pairing up Booker with Towns, and the Warriors are trying to publicly show both the Timberwolves and the Towns camp’s that they too would consider pairing him up with one of his best friends giving both Minnesota and Towns something to consider.