FNG wrote:But I would not stand pat if I were Rosas, because I think he is sitting on a nice trade chip that could make this team better. And that trade chip is Russell. While I acknowledge his offensive production and flashiness, I have never liked his overall game. He is a consistently strong scorer, but his underlying metrics are terrible. His poor defense not only is obvious from watching him, but also is borne out by his horrible defensive metrics. And he is by no means an efficient scorer- his career TS% of 52.6% falls significantly below the league average for SG's of 55.2%, and is embarrassingly just north of Andrew Wiggins' career TS% of 52.2%- not someone I want my starting SG to model in efficiency. I'm generally a fan of defensive studs and efficient scorers, and DLO is neither. Yet still, NBA GM's seem willing to trade for him, because there will always be a market for scorers. With that in mind, I would be looking at teams that need a scoring SG but have a surplus of bigs, and could be willing to give up a very good 2-way PF in exchange for Russell (sorry, I have no PFs in mind at the moment). This would allow Beasley and Culver to share the SG minutes, and move Mc Laughlin into a backup role behind Rubio. I would love to roll into 2020-21 with a starting lineup of KAT/stud 2-way PF/Edwards/Beasley or Culver/Rubio.
Not likely, but a guy can dream...
1. If you trade D'Angelo Russell at this point, then be prepared to trade Karl-Anthony Towns as well. Russell is going no where unless there's a decision to blow it all up.
2. Russell is not only a strong scorer, but he's also a high level facilitator. That combination of skills is in high demand in today's NBA and supply is limited whether we choose to accept it or not. There were only 13 players in the league last year that averaged at least 20.0 points per game and at least six assists per game.
3. You curiously chose to portray Russell's career TS% instead of who he's been the last couple of seasons. This is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of league. Russell's TS% is .541 since 2018 and .556 in 45 games last year, which indicates tangible improvement.
For reference, that number was better than C.J. McCollum, Jrue Holiday, Fred VanVleet, Malcolm Brogdon, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Russell Westbrook to name a few. Russell is fine in regards to his efficiency.