Minnesota Sports Forum

D'Angelo Russell: The @nba is full of athletes not Basketball players. #Respectfully - via Twitter Dloading

I found this recent DLO comment interesting. It's consistent with something I've learned about him since he's been with the Wolves - that DLO really loves the game and is a student of the game. When we first traded for him I thought he was in the same mold as Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams - a talented player with little passion for or understanding of the game. Turns out i was wrong. I think Finch referred to DLO as a basketball junkie. DLO mentioned that when he's not playing basketball he's watching it. Watching him play has made it clear to me that he thinks the game.

It's now clear to me that DLO's struggles very early in his career resulted mainly from immaturity and since then from a lack of stability and continuity. I also think his lack of quickness and athleticism limits him more than draft analysts anticipated when he was widely regarded as a top 4 prospect coming out of college. DLO is a highly skilled player with a high basketball IQ and a passion for the game. His talent falls short of a 1st or 2nd best on a championship contender, but he can be a 3rd best and on the Wolves he need only be a 4th or 5th best behind Towns. Edwards, Gobert and maybe McDaniels. I have only three remaining concerns with DLO: (1) his lack of durability, (2) his tendency to over-dribble and stifle ball movement, and (3) his lapses in defensive intensity. He can't control the first, but he has full control over the latter two. If he fixes those latter two and stays healthy, he'll be terrific.

Camden wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:So the Timberwolves have about the 20th - 25th best PG in the league.

I can't wait to revisit these comments toward the end of the season. Those lists should look different.

I think Russell will have a solid season. Quite possibly/probably his best season. It's a contract year after all.

lipoli390 wrote:D'Angelo Russell: The @nba is full of athletes not Basketball players. #Respectfully - via Twitter Dloading

I found this recent DLO comment interesting. It's consistent with something I've learned about him since he's been with the Wolves - that DLO really loves the game and is a student of the game. When we first traded for him I thought he was in the same mold as Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams - a talented player with little passion for or understanding of the game. Turns out i was wrong. I think Finch referred to DLO as a basketball junkie. DLO mentioned that when he's not playing basketball he's watching it. Watching him play has made it clear to me that he thinks the game.

It's now clear to me that DLO's struggles very early in his career resulted mainly from immaturity and since then from a lack of stability and continuity. I also think his lack of quickness and athleticism limits him more than draft analysts anticipated when he was widely regarded as a top 4 prospect coming out of college. DLO is a highly skilled player with a high basketball IQ and a passion for the game. His talent falls short of a 1st or 2nd best on a championship contender, but he can be a 3rd best and on the Wolves he need only be a 4th or 5th best behind Towns. Edwards, Gobert and maybe McDaniels. I have only three remaining concerns with DLO: (1) his lack of durability, (2) his tendency to over-dribble and stifle ball movement, and (3) his lapses in defensive intensity. He can't control the first, but he has full control over the latter two. If he fixes those latter two and stays healthy, he'll be terrific.

This is a balanced view of DLo's value and largely mirrors my own view of him. I also didn't much like him personally during his initial years in the NBA, but I have grown to appreciate him over the past 18 months...either my earlier view of him was wrong, or he has matured a lot, maybe a little of both. But I also don't dispute the widely-held belief around the Association that he is clearly in the bottom tier of starting PGs...it's impossible to conclude otherwise after comparing his advanced stats to other PGs. But you point out why this is not a big problem. DLo is talented (you don't get to be the 23rd best PG in the NBA without talent!), and more importantly, we only need him to be a 4th or 5th best player on this team. I would argue that when you consider both offense and defense, Russell is clearly the 5th best of our starters. He and Jaden are still primarily one-way players (although Jaden has 2-way potential), but Jaden's defense is much better than DLo's offense (their primary strengths) and Jaden's offense is also better than DLo's defense. So the Wolves have the luxury of having a talented lottery pick as their 5th best starter! As some of us have said before, DLo can be an effective PG if he dials back the hero shots he makes with too low efficiency, works well in the PnR with Rudy (and others) and improves his on-ball defense. And if he doesn't, I think we can count on Finchie holding him accountable like he did in the 4th quarter of the last Memphis game.

Jaden McDaniels might be better than D'Angelo Russell someday given the combination of his size, athleticism, and skill package, but to say that he's better currently is absurd. It's just not true on any measurable level. That's yet another reach in an attempt to downplay Russell's value and importance.