Minnesota Sports Forum

A number of us, including me, have been coming down pretty hard on DLO after only a few games. Here's an excerpt from a recent article by Zach Lowe on ESPN.com:

7. It's time for D'Angelo Russell to stand up

Russell will drive winning at a high level -- at least in his current role -- only if he gets better at one of two things: getting to the rim (and the line), and defending with vigor.

We haven't seen progress yet this season. Only 6% of Russell's shots have come in the restricted area, below his share in any prior season, per Cleaning The Glass. He has attempted eight free throws in four games. Russell's playmaking has plateaued in part because he doesn't get into the teeth of the defense. (In fairness, Minnesota does not have a ton of respected shooters who help unclutter the paint. The Wolves are getting less than zero from their power forwards.)

Critics have focused on Russell's on-ball defense. He doesn't hold his stance, and has trouble slithering around screens. Some of that is fixable.

His off-ball defense has been just as problematic. He has a tendency to wander and space out -- to hang in no-man's land, or stray from his man when no such help is required.

The Wolves rank in the bottom 10 on both offense and defense, and they've been much worse with Russell on the floor. That doesn't mean much -- yet.

Alongside both Ricky Rubio and Karl-Anthony Towns, Russell could slide into a less ball-dominant role that suits him -- and might push him toward taking more 3s, and fewer pull-up 2s. Russell hits those shots at a solid rate. He can lift a bad offense toward mediocrity. But the Wolves have grander ambitions, and to meet them, Russell has to embrace the grimy stuff.

Here's an excerpt from another article on DLO:

The Minnesota Timberwolves should have a potent offense, but it's struggled mightily without Karl-Anthony Towns. It's time for D'Angelo Russell to step up.

The Minnesota Timberwolves offense should easily be a top-10 unit.

It's understandable to assume that the Wolves would take a step back offensively without Karl-Anthony Towns, but the past two games have been even rougher than expected on that end of the floor.

There are three Wolves players who should be counted on to carry the majority of the offensive production in Towns' absence: D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Anthony Edwards.

This is the first part in a series looking at each of these players and what they've done over the course of the first four games of the season. Let's start with Russell.

D'Angelo Russell's shot selection has left something to be desired. D'Angelo Russell is a score-first point guard. We know it, he knows it, his teammates know it. Put simply, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's going to get his shots up. But without Towns on the floor, Russell's aggressiveness feels more like a simple propensity to chuck and not at all like a secondary star truly stepping up in the absence of his team's superstar leader.

In the two games since Towns' injury, Russell has shot 11-for-26 from the field (42.3 percent) and 4-for-12 from 3-point range (33.3 percent). Those aren't terrible marks, and especially not as the primary creator and offensive threat for a Towns-less team.

At the same time, he's attempted zero free throws in 41 minutes of play and dished out seven assists compared to 10 turnovers. Yikes.

The crazy thing is that the negative assist-to-turnover ratio isn't the worst thing about Russell's performance. The lack of free throw attempts is part of the story, but it's more a function of the approach than the issue in and of itself. After all, Russell has never been one to attack the paint and get to the free throw line. But he's taken it to a new level over the past couple of games.

Against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Russell had one shot attempt inside 14 feet. It was a solid post-up against the much smaller Dennis Schroeder, and he scored easily. Otherwise, he shot 1-of-6 on the night.

On Tuesday against the LA Clippers, Russell shot 9-of-19 from the field. Among those 19 shot attempts, he shot the ball just one time from a location closer than 11 feet, and it came on a beautiful baseline cut and pass from Rubio.

He didn't score at the rim in transition. He didn't get to the rim off the dribble. In related news, he didn't get to the free throw line, either.

In fact, other than the one layup, Russell didn't even attempt any shots below the break. No corner three attempts among his 11 launches from beyond the arc, this coming from a player who is a 41.8 percent career shooter on corner threes.

I think most of us agree with these takes based more on his five years in the league than his 5 games this year. I just don't feel that D-Lo is the right fit for this team, especially given our glut of SG's. What kind of trade value do you think he has if we were to offer him to a team like the Hawks. Does he bring back someone like a John Collins, or are we saddled with another Wiggins-like contract that we have to pay someone to take off our hands?

FNG wrote:I think most of us agree with these takes based more on his five years in the league than his 5 games this year. I just don't feel that D-Lo is the right fit for this team, especially given our glut of SG's. What kind of trade value do you think he has if we were to offer him to a team like the Hawks. Does he bring back someone like a John Collins, or are we saddled with another Wiggins-like contract that we have to pay someone to take off our hands?

How much value would a guy jettisoned by his 4th team in barely over 5 years really have?

And the 2nd straight team that tried to dump him after less than a season?

A #1 pick would have to be attached. At least.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:I think most of us agree with these takes based more on his five years in the league than his 5 games this year. I just don't feel that D-Lo is the right fit for this team, especially given our glut of SG's. What kind of trade value do you think he has if we were to offer him to a team like the Hawks. Does he bring back someone like a John Collins, or are we saddled with another Wiggins-like contract that we have to pay someone to take off our hands?

How much value would a guy jettisoned by his 4th team in barely over 5 years really have?

And the 2nd straight team that tried to dump him after less than a season?

A #1 pick would have to be attached. At least.

I think you're right, Abe. The Warriors couldn't wait to move DLO out the door and the Nets before than apparently had little interest in keeping DLO even after his one all-star season with them. And of course, the Lakers were eager to move on from him after picking him #2 in the draft. That history is telling and should have been enough reason to say no to trading away both of our 2021 picks to bring DLO here on a 4-year max deal.

So I think we're stuck and it's up to the coaching staff to get the most out of him. I actually thought his defense was surprisingly good in the first two games this season. And he can certainly hit tough shots, get hot and put up a lot of points. I'll continue to dream of the possibility that the Wolves can trade him for positive value in return. But that's not reality. The reality is that DLO will be here and it's up to the Wolves coaching staff to make the best of it. And if making the best of it means playing JMac and Ricky at the point with DLO coming off the bench, then so be it.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:I think most of us agree with these takes based more on his five years in the league than his 5 games this year. I just don't feel that D-Lo is the right fit for this team, especially given our glut of SG's. What kind of trade value do you think he has if we were to offer him to a team like the Hawks. Does he bring back someone like a John Collins, or are we saddled with another Wiggins-like contract that we have to pay someone to take off our hands?

How much value would a guy jettisoned by his 4th team in barely over 5 years really have?

And the 2nd straight team that tried to dump him after less than a season?

A #1 pick would have to be attached. At least.

Hopefully we could find a deal where we wouldn't have to give up any picks, but I fear you might be right. I wouldn't give up another 1st though. I'd rather sit him on the bench and if he became a distraction, I'd send him to Iowa. I think I see a couple guys in Rubio and Beasley who might be close to calling him out on his crap. On one of his attempts to throw it at the rim and hope to get fouled, I thought I saw Beasley looking pretty ticked. I really don't think we need this guys "offense" now that we mcglaughlin playing

I am convinced the NBA has dirt on Glen Taylor and therefore he is being forced to fuck over our team perpetually. He tried to find a buyer, and they said no, Glen. You're stuck until we say so.

At the end of the day Rosas and Ryan just need to swallow their pride and forget about this small ball bullshit. Use Ricky and Beasley to bring in real front court help. If you have Okogie/Culver or another 3 who can defend with a 4 who can actually defend then Russell/Edwards/Towns is something that can be built around. There are a ton of terrible defending PG's in the NBA. Russell isn't the first and he won't be the last. Towns stretches the floor so there isn't a need for a 4 who needs to stretch the floor as well. The experiment failed. The team is complete trash without Towns because they are just at a significant size disadvantage every night. Turn the veteran guards into a wing with actual size or an actual PF and kill two birds with one stone clearing up the backcourt log jam and filling in a significant hole.

khans2k5 wrote:At the end of the day Rosas and Ryan just need to swallow their pride and forget about this small ball bullshit. Use Ricky and Beasley to bring in real front court help. If you have Okogie/Culver or another 3 who can defend with a 4 who can actually defend then Russell/Edwards/Towns is something that can be built around. There are a ton of terrible defending PG's in the NBA. Russell isn't the first and he won't be the last. Towns stretches the floor so there isn't a need for a 4 who needs to stretch the floor as well. The experiment failed. The team is complete trash without Towns because they are just at a significant size disadvantage every night. Turn the veteran guards into a wing with actual size or an actual PF and kill two birds with one stone clearing up the backcourt log jam and filling in a significant hole.

Rubio is the only guy on this team that knows how to play team basketball (Jmac may be near). He should want out, the team should not.

Hiring an actual FO and Head coach would be my first move. Worry about the personnel after. Good head staff make things easier and ultimately better. Ours impede.

D-Mac wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:I think most of us agree with these takes based more on his five years in the league than his 5 games this year. I just don't feel that D-Lo is the right fit for this team, especially given our glut of SG's. What kind of trade value do you think he has if we were to offer him to a team like the Hawks. Does he bring back someone like a John Collins, or are we saddled with another Wiggins-like contract that we have to pay someone to take off our hands?

How much value would a guy jettisoned by his 4th team in barely over 5 years really have?

And the 2nd straight team that tried to dump him after less than a season?

A #1 pick would have to be attached. At least.

Hopefully we could find a deal where we wouldn't have to give up any picks, but I fear you might be right. I wouldn't give up another 1st though. I'd rather sit him on the bench and if he became a distraction, I'd send him to Iowa. I think I see a couple guys in Rubio and Beasley who might be close to calling him out on his crap. On one of his attempts to throw it at the rim and hope to get fouled, I thought I saw Beasley looking pretty ticked. I really don't think we need this guys "offense" now that we mcglaughlin playing

I believe I mentioned in the first game when Beasley was running the court hard. (That's one thing I like about his game.) And Russell looked him off multiple times to dribble it up methodically. Beasley put his head down... and ran through the set with significant less zest and zeal.

Whether you're a 5th grade school ball kid... or a $27M former all star... any PG worth his salt knows he has to feed those guys running hard on the court.



[Note: Now granted, that's me and you watching tv at home. We don't really know... but sometimes, there really might be something there by those subtle little things we see on the court.]