Wolves look-ahead profile: D’Angelo Russell

With the announcement of the NBA’s 22-team plan to close out the rest of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are now in offseason mode. The franchise will have to make plenty of tough decisions in the coming months, including an array of personnel moves.

As Gersson Rosas and Ryan Saunders navigate the NBA offseason, FOX Sports North will analyze each player on the Timberwolves and how they might fit in with the team in the future.

This edition: D’Angelo Russell

BACKGROUND

Russell was a one-and-done phenom at Ohio State and was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second-overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. After two seasons with the Lakers, Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.

He played two seasons in Brooklyn and in 2018-19 made the All-Star Game. In the offseason Russell was sent to the Golden State Warriors as a part of the sign-and-trade that sent Kevin Durant to Brooklyn. Russell was with the Warriors for just 33 games in thiw season before the Timberwolves acquired him in the deal that sent Andrew Wiggins to Golden State.

SEASON REVIEW

Upon arriving in Minnesota in February, Russell’s presence on the floor immediately jolted some excitement into the franchise. Russell only played in 12 games for the Timberwolves, but still managed to make a quick impact with flashy moments and frequent highlights. Even though Minnesota was still a losing team with Russell, he showed why the organization had long coveted him.

STATS (with Wolves only)

MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	3P%	FT%
32.7	21.7	4.6	6.6	41.2	34.5	87.3

GAME TO REMEMBER

Russell had higher-scoring outputs with the Timberwolves, but his game to remember came in a 129-126 road win over the Miami Heat on Feb. 26. He recorded 27 points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals and went 7 of 14 from 3-point land in the winning effort.

You serious, @Dloading? pic.twitter.com/w7AMzR5dXG

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) February 27, 2020

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT SEASON

At his point, we pretty much know who Russell is as a player and how he projects moving forward. He is a high-volume scorer who’s a decent 3-point shooter and solid passer but struggles on the defensive end (Russell has had a defensive rating of 110 or higher, per basketball-reference.com, in all five of his NBA seasons).

That said, the 24-year-old Russell still has space to grow. Since Russell has proven himself as a competent high-volume scorer, it’s unfair to expect him to be amazingly efficient, but he can and should be able to shoot better than 41% from the field. He shot 43.4% overall and 36.9% from deep during his All-Star season with the Nets, so if he can get back to that level of play this offseason then he will be a better and more complete player.