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It seems as if the modern NBA is filled with some arbitrary collection of stars, superstars, and rising stars. Ask anyone for their top 10 players in the league and you're bound to get an answer far different from the one you had in mind. Ask them about their top young players and the list gets even crazier. Over the last 10 years, the NBA has seen a significant influx of talent, particularly at the guard positions. With this overabundance of talent, fans and analysts have grown to overlook certain players who don't reside in big markets. One such player is D'Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It's easy to look him over, especially offensively, when you consider the other prolific scorers on his team, Karl Anthony-Towns and Anthony Edwards. His lingering injury history after leaving the Brooklyn Nets hasn't helped his case either. Yet, his offensive value consistently matches or exceeds many of the point guards within his age and salary range.
In the 2020-2021 NBA season, Russell posted an OVI rating of 27.33, putting him at 31st in the league and 18th amongst all guards. This metric put him into an offensive category with other notable young stars like Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker. Furthermore, Russell's contract expense ranked 45th in the league amongst all players and 22nd amongst all guards. This indicates that not only is he matching the "overpaid" contract that some fans claim he has, but he is also outperforming guars that are typically put into more elite categories, such as Ja Morant, Jaylen Brown, and Jamal Murray.
One of the main reasons for his offensive success is his passing capability.
It's no secret that his highlight clips can ignite a crowd and spark momentum for his team, but the stats back up his passing ability as well. Primarily, Dlo has a willingness to share the ball and find his open teammates. More than just his skill, he is eager to execute plays efficiently even if that means getting rid of the basketball. This is shown in his assist percentage of 33.6%, which measures the proportion of his team's baskets he assisted on while playing on the court. This places him 12th in the league behind other notable floor generals like Nikola Jokic and Draymond green. Not only is he a willing passer, but he's also a deadly accurate one. According to Ben Taylor's Passer Rating model, Russel boasts a PR of 8.0, edging out other great playmakers like Lamelo Ball, Ben Simmons, De'Aaron Fox, Mike Conley, and John Wall.
Another reason for his success is his diversified scoring attack. His smooth jumper along with his tight handle and crafty finishing allow him to be an effective 3-level scorer.
His shot selection clearly shows his willingness to play aggressively at all ends of the floor. This represents an assortment of pull-up jumpers in the midrange, catch and shoot 3s, pick and roll drives, and floaters in the lane. This variety of offense keeps his defender on their toes, and this versatility is ultimately what allows him to succeed offensively despite his lack of supreme athleticism.
One of the main criticism of Russel's play has always been his inefficient play. While his aggressiveness can sometimes turn to bad shooting, particularly with contested 2-pointers and early shot clock 3s, we have to remember that inefficiency can contribute to winning basketball as long as it can scale appropriately. This inefficient play masks one of his greatest strengths, difficult shot-making. Many elite offensive players have had inefficient shooting splits, but their performance is scalable due to the raw skill and assortment of moves in their arsenal. A great example of this is Kobe Bryant.
The Black Mamba is arguably the greatest scorer to ever live. Stopping purely at his shooting percentages would prevent you from seeing the bigger picture of how scalable his performance actually was. This trend is typically seen from guards like Dlo who thrive in the mid-range and have significant volume from beyond the arc.
The Timberwolves 57.1% win rate with Russell and 31.9% win rate without him speaks volume to the impact he has on the court. At only 25 years old he still has room to grow and improve tremendously as an NBA guard. If the wolves do look to soley build around Edwards and Towns, whichever team trades for Russell will surely see a dramatic increase in their chances of thriving in the post-season.
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