Great News!

[Coolbreeze44]

It's February 9, 2023, and I don't have to watch D'angelo Russell play in a Wolves uniform anymore. It's a good day.

[Carlos Danger]

It's February 9, 2023, and I don't have to watch D'angelo Russell play in a Wolves uniform anymore. It's a good day.

So...are you still going to keep wearing his jersey to Wolves games? Bwah-ha-ha!

[FNG]

My "little" in the Big Brother program is perhaps LeBron's biggest fan, so I always have to get tickets for us when the Lakers are in town. I just realized the game has a lot more meaning now! It will be fun to watch young Mike Conley running circles around 38-year-old LeBron. The Lakers are crazy to have a guy that old in their starting lineup.

[60WinTim]

Jonny K wrote an in-depth article on the trade:

https://theathletic.com/4169502/2023/02/09/dangelo-russell-trade-mike-conley-timberwolves/

Okay, now I am just kind of pissed. Good riddance to Dlo. I now believe that his departure erased a cloud of tension that was hanging over the team. Maybe that's why we had a barrage of made 3-pointers last night!

[indent] Russell did not have that patience with Gobert this season. When he's not catching lobs for dunks, Gobert has an awkward aesthetic around the basket. It can lead to ugly missed layups, wild runners and fumbled passes. The lack of fluidity frustrated Russell. He didn't hide his displeasure from teammates or opponents, who heard him lamenting Gobert's offensive shortcomings during games. It was part of a messy acclimation process for a team being asked to play a completely different style than the one that got them to the playoffs last year.[/indent]


One of the selling points for keeping Dlo after the Gobert trade was the potential for lob passes, like DLo's days with Allen in Brooklyn. I don't remember who was the chief seller on that point, but here's this:

[indent] While Russell is a gifted passer, the Timberwolves took for granted that the lobs would come easy to the pair. The lob simply wasn't as big of a part of Russell's pick-and-roll approach as one might believe with a passer of his talent level. For all of the success Russell had with Allen in Brooklyn, he only completed 15 alley-oop passes to him that season, according to data compiled by The Athletic's Seth Partnow. As a point of reference, Trae Young threw 92 alley-oops to Clint Capela last season, Luka Don?i? threw 64 to Dwight Powell and Marcus Smart threw 41 to Rob Williams.

That proved to be the case with Gobert as well. The two of them never appeared to get on the same page on offense this season, with Russell throwing just 13 alley-oops to him in 54 games. Conley, meanwhile, completed 25, 39 and 51 lobs to Gobert during their three seasons in Utah.[/indent]


And, of course, there is this observation which is what turned so many of us off, despite his hot shooting streak:

[indent] Russell has a much higher ceiling as a scorer than Conley, but he also has a lower floor. When he is not engaged defensively, opponents blow right by him for layups in transition, grab rebounds while he watches and hit open 3s while he is slow to close out.[/indent]

Bye, Dlo. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

[Carlos Danger]

Jonny K wrote an in-depth article on the trade:

https://theathletic.com/4169502/2023/02/09/dangelo-russell-trade-mike-conley-timberwolves/

Okay, now I am just kind of pissed. Good riddance to Dlo. I now believe that his departure erased a cloud of tension that was hanging over the team. Maybe that's why we had a barrage of made 3-pointers last night!

[indent] Russell did not have that patience with Gobert this season. When he's not catching lobs for dunks, Gobert has an awkward aesthetic around the basket. It can lead to ugly missed layups, wild runners and fumbled passes. The lack of fluidity frustrated Russell. He didn't hide his displeasure from teammates or opponents, who heard him lamenting Gobert's offensive shortcomings during games. It was part of a messy acclimation process for a team being asked to play a completely different style than the one that got them to the playoffs last year.[/indent]


One of the selling points for keeping Dlo after the Gobert trade was the potential for lob passes, like DLo's days with Allen in Brooklyn. I don't remember who was the chief seller on that point, but here's this:

[indent] While Russell is a gifted passer, the Timberwolves took for granted that the lobs would come easy to the pair. The lob simply wasn't as big of a part of Russell's pick-and-roll approach as one might believe with a passer of his talent level. For all of the success Russell had with Allen in Brooklyn, he only completed 15 alley-oop passes to him that season, according to data compiled by The Athletic's Seth Partnow. As a point of reference, Trae Young threw 92 alley-oops to Clint Capela last season, Luka Don?i? threw 64 to Dwight Powell and Marcus Smart threw 41 to Rob Williams.

That proved to be the case with Gobert as well. The two of them never appeared to get on the same page on offense this season, with Russell throwing just 13 alley-oops to him in 54 games. Conley, meanwhile, completed 25, 39 and 51 lobs to Gobert during their three seasons in Utah.[/indent]


And, of course, there is this observation which is what turned so many of us off, despite his hot shooting streak:

[indent] Russell has a much higher ceiling as a scorer than Conley, but he also has a lower floor. When he is not engaged defensively, opponents blow right by him for layups in transition, grab rebounds while he watches and hit open 3s while he is slow to close out.[/indent]

Bye, Dlo. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

Great stuff. Thank you for posting. Bottom line, they had decided to move on from DLO. TC got Gobert - not DLO, so it's not surprising who he would try to please when it didn't work out between the two. This happens in the corporate world all the time. It's a change at the top that filters down the organization. Someone else reminded us of the Thibs/Timberbulls. It certainly won't be shocking to see some other TC guys find their way here (like Bones).

[FNG]

Jonny K wrote an in-depth article on the trade:

https://theathletic.com/4169502/2023/02/09/dangelo-russell-trade-mike-conley-timberwolves/

Okay, now I am just kind of pissed. Good riddance to Dlo. I now believe that his departure erased a cloud of tension that was hanging over the team. Maybe that's why we had a barrage of made 3-pointers last night!

[indent] Russell did not have that patience with Gobert this season. When he's not catching lobs for dunks, Gobert has an awkward aesthetic around the basket. It can lead to ugly missed layups, wild runners and fumbled passes. The lack of fluidity frustrated Russell. He didn't hide his displeasure from teammates or opponents, who heard him lamenting Gobert's offensive shortcomings during games. It was part of a messy acclimation process for a team being asked to play a completely different style than the one that got them to the playoffs last year.[/indent]


One of the selling points for keeping Dlo after the Gobert trade was the potential for lob passes, like DLo's days with Allen in Brooklyn. I don't remember who was the chief seller on that point, but here's this:

[indent] While Russell is a gifted passer, the Timberwolves took for granted that the lobs would come easy to the pair. The lob simply wasn't as big of a part of Russell's pick-and-roll approach as one might believe with a passer of his talent level. For all of the success Russell had with Allen in Brooklyn, he only completed 15 alley-oop passes to him that season, according to data compiled by The Athletic's Seth Partnow. As a point of reference, Trae Young threw 92 alley-oops to Clint Capela last season, Luka Don?i? threw 64 to Dwight Powell and Marcus Smart threw 41 to Rob Williams.

That proved to be the case with Gobert as well. The two of them never appeared to get on the same page on offense this season, with Russell throwing just 13 alley-oops to him in 54 games. Conley, meanwhile, completed 25, 39 and 51 lobs to Gobert during their three seasons in Utah.[/indent]



Tim, I haven't read the article yet, but I will (I'm a big Jon K fan). I have always thought of DLo as at least a neutral locker room presence, but in the past two weeks, Jon K has made some mysterious comments about him...mostly on the Berreiro show. Jon was cautious with his words, but he was clearly hinting at some negative undercurrents in the room. Last night was just one game, but an optimist certainly could make some knee jerk observations about it!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

We're painting D'Angelo Russell as a locker room cancer now, huh? Interesting... Does he harm puppies and assault the elderly too?

[Jester1534]

We're painting D'Angelo Russell as a locker room cancer now, huh? Interesting... Does he harm puppies and assault the elderly too?

No your thinking of that Malik Beasley fellow who Points guns at children

[Lipoli390]

DLO was understandably frustrated by Gobert's bad hands and overall clumsiness on the offensive end. Note that Jon K has previously reported that multiple players were frustrated by Gobert's offensive weaknesses. The fact that DLO was frustrated with Gobert is a good thing because it reflects reality and DLO's competitiveness. The fact that other Wolves players had the same frustration tells us that the issues with the Wolves this season have been more about Gobert than DLO who was the starting PG on last year's team that finished 10 games over .500.

Note that I'm not a DLO guy. I didn't like the trade that brought him here and I was often frustrated by his careless turnovers, ball-hogging and defensive lapses. But the focus on DLO as the source of this team's failings this season has been way over the top and just plain weird. This team's frustrating mediocrity this season is far more about the Gobert trade, exacerbated by KAT's injury.

I'm not sad to see DLO go. In a way I'm relieved that we've moved on from a player I wasn't crazy about and who I thought we overpaid to get - although Tim Connelly redefined the term overpay last summer. Do I think we're better with Conley and Alexander-Walker than we were with DLO and whoever the Wolves cut (Forbes) to make room for the extra incoming player? I don't know. I'd say that we're marginally better short term if Conley stays healthy. That plus the 2nd-round picks and preserving DLO's salary slot make me content, but not thrilled, with the trade.

[Coolbreeze44]

Lippy, when this is all said and done, we are going to be significantly better.