Is Timberwolves’ PG D’Angelo Russell on the hot seat?
By Will Eudy
Heading into his fourth season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, point guard D’Angelo Russell looks to continue his role as one of the leaders of this team. As the franchise enters a new era of unprecedented hype and anticipation with the arrival of All-Star center Rudy Gobert, he’ll have to keep playing at a high level to give the Wolves their best chance to contend for a title.
In 2021-22, Russell had a very solid campaign, averaging 18.1 points and a career-high 7.1 assists per contest. He logged 14 games with double-digit assists. But in the postseason, his numbers dropped, and he recorded just 12.0 points and 6.7 assist averages in the first-round series with Memphis. So the question must be asked: how safe is his job as starting point guard?
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Other Timberwolves Players Are Up To The Challenge
For DLo to get benched, his level of play would have to drop off pretty significantly. He was still a very solid playmaker and scorer over the course of last season as a whole. But if his playoff woes follow him into 2022-23, there are a few solid players down the Timberwolves bench that I’m sure Chris Finch wouldn’t mind giving a starting nod to.
Jordan McLaughlin would be one of those players. His performance in the playoffs against the Grizzlies was excellent, and he probably set himself up to earn more minutes this year already.
He upped his scoring average from 3.8 in the regular season to 6.2 in the 2022 playoffs, helping Minnesota push Memphis to six games with his red-hot shooting. McLaughlin shot 57% from three in the playoffs, and an astounding 70.6% overall. With those numbers, DLo might be sweating just a little bit.
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Another player that will compete for minutes at point guard is the Timberwolves’ first-round pick, Wendell Moore Jr. Moore had an outstanding junior season at Duke, putting up 13.4 points per game on a roster loaded with NBA talent, while logging career-highs in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounds, assists, and steals per game.
His final campaign with the Blue Devils boosted his stock in a major way, as he wasn’t projected to be drafted at all after his sophomore season in 2021. While Russell stands at 6’4 195 pounds, Moore is a bit bigger at 6’5 215. So he already has size to go with his three-level scoring ability. D’Angelo is still the superior player, but there’s no doubt Moore’s continued development will play a part in his job security going forward.
In the end, there probably isn’t too much to be worried about if you’re D’Angelo Russell. His play in the postseason was less than desirable, but stretches like that are more of the exception than the norm for players of his caliber.
He’ll also have a stronger roster around him this coming season, and when you have a fringe all-star level talent like DLo as your likely fourth scoring option, you’re going to be in good shape.