After what seemed like months of anticipation, the trade deadline came and went last Thursday at noon. And man was it interesting.

Aside from the Houston Rockets boycotting post players in a four-team trade, the biggest news came from the Bay. Warriors’ GM Bob Myers and company decided to ship off D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins.

The trade did not come as a surprise to most-- even though talking heads and social media wanted to front-- because there was a consensus that Russell was acquired to be flipped for piece way back in July. Every time Russell had an all-star caliber game, it was a tryout, like his 52-point game in Minnesota.

And in return, the Warriors got the only logical piece that Minnesota could give them in Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves were not trading away their franchise player in Karl Anthony-Towns, who wants to play with Russell. The next best option was Wiggins, a young athletic wing player.

The trade was not shocking whatsoever. But the week in itself was still, no matter how long-anticipated, chaotic.

The Dubs started the week in Washington, to take on a feeling snubbed Bradley Beal and the Wizards. 

The Warriors were coming off of a route in Boston and needed a confidence booster. 

Golden State hit 11-of-18 three-pointers in the first two periods en route to a 72-point explosion by the game’s midway point, prompting Draymond Green to ask, “Who needs the Splash Brothers?”

Naturally, Golden State continued its offensive onslaught in the second half, canning 8 of their first 10 shots and surging to a 19-point lead with 5:41 left in the third quarter. The Warriors were led by some spectacular shooting from Burks and Damion Lee, each of whom hit 5 three-pointers all en route to a 125-117 victory.

So this is where the chaos began. The Dubs following game was in Brooklyn. Naturally, the headlines of the game were going to surround former Warriors forward Kevin Durant. Still, somehow the Warriors managed to add to the chaos by deactivating Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III just prior to tip-off.

This was a clue and a half that a trade was on its way. The deadline was less than 24 hours away, and Burks and Robinson had the most trade value out of the role players.

With all of that said, they were loved in the locker room. And the cloud of the soon to come trade hung over the team as they walked through the motions of a rather ugly game in Brooklyn, losing 129-88.

After, Robinson and Burks were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for a 2020 second-round pick, 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 second-rounder.

And that wasn’t it, of course, hours later Russell—along with Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman— were traded to the Timberwolves for Wiggins, a 2021 top-three protected first-round pick, and a 2021 second-round pick.

The trade has many possible impacts on the future for Golden State that only time will show weather or not this ended up being favorable or not for the Warriors.

For now, there’s still a season to play, and in Wiggins’ first game, he did not disappoint. In a game against the West’s best team, the Los Angeles Lakers, Wiggins made his debut without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, or Draymond Green.

Wiggins went on to score 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Taking six fewer shots than he averaged in 42 games with the Timberwolves this season, he also scored two more points than his average.

“I met with (head coach Steve Kerr) earlier, and he was like, ‘Compete and run the floor,’” Wiggins said, who landed in San Francisco late Friday night. “Those were the main things, and hearing those words make it easier on me. I just felt good on the court and let the game come to me.”

“It’s just great to have a player who we could put on LeBron and at least match up physically,” Kerr said after the matchup. “It’s the hardest position to guard these days in the NBA, so to have a guy who’s 6-8 and athletic, knows the league well, understands how to play, it’s great.”

While this was just one game, the future can be promising, as Wiggins is excited to absorb the Warriors culture.

“My best thing is attacking the basket. It’s gonna be kind of hard to help if you have Steph and Klay,” Wiggins said after scoring 24 points for the Warriors in a loss to the Lakers. “Losing is never fun. Just being here, you can tell by everyone’s approach and attitude, they’re winners. It’s something I’ve wanted to be my whole career.”

The basketball world will have to wait and see what the future brings for the state of the Bay. 

Moving forward, the Warriors have an old friend making a visit as they take on Andre Iguodala and the Miami Heat Monday night at 7:30 PST. 

Tonight we have another game to see the Wiggins Project unfold while we become one day closer to the return of the Baby Faced Assassin.