As part of a flurry of moves by the Timberwolves in advance of Thursday's trade deadline, the team traded center Gorgui Dieng to Memphis for veteran forward James Johnson.
Let's make another deal: Timberwolves trade Gorgui Dieng, too
The center, previously the longest-tenured Wolves player, was dealt to Memphis for James Johnson
February 7, 2020 at 1:44AM
Dieng, a first-round pick in 2013, appeared in 498 career games with 204 starts in his career, all with the Wolves. He has career averages of 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds.
Johnson, 32, is in his 11th NBA season and can play both small forward and power forward. He had been with Miami until being traded Thursday for Andre Iguodala.
Both players have one year left after this on lucrative four-year deals that took effect during the 2017-18 season. Johnson has a $16 million player option next season, while Dieng is slated to count close to $17.3 million against the cap, which could be a motivating factor for the Wolves in the deal.
Dieng, who was in his seventh season with the Wolves, was one of the most popular players on the team. He started all 82 games in 2016-17 but saw his playing time diminish the following season after the Wolves signed Taj Gibson.
He was the longest-tenured Timberwolves player on this year's roster, but with the separate trades of Dieng and Andrew Wiggins on Thursday that distinction now falls to 2015 No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns.
The team's superstar ranted, calling the players “a bunch of little kids” and saying “internally, we soft.” Mike Conley joined him in saying the Wolves are too negative with each other: “We got to be able to talk.”
