Dunking With Wolves
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Ricky Rubio and D’Angelo Russell could coexist on Wolves

By Ben Beecken

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Rumors continue to swirl that the Wolves are considering trading Ricky Rubio, at least in part due to interest in one or both of Emmanuel Mudiay and D’Angelo Russell in the upcoming draft.

We did our part here at Dunking With Wolves to dispel any Rubio-related rumors, as they’re largely baseless and would fly in the face of any lip service Flip Saunders and Co. have been paying to the idea of competing for a playoff spot during the ongoing rebuild.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do our due diligence when it comes to players that Saunders may be interested in and will certainly be drafted in the top few picks of the June 25th draft. We’ve spent some time discussing Emmanuel Mudiay as a potential draft pick as well as the possibility of Russell replacing Rubio on the Wolves’ roster.

This will be a counterpoint of sorts, discussing why Russell shouldn’t be seen as a potential Rubio replacement, but rather a near-perfect match to play alongside him as a secondary ball-handler and the primary two-guard on the young and improving Wolves squad.

Russell is six-foot-five, and slotted in alongside the six-foot-four Rubio gives the Wolves a large back court. Add Russell’s 6′-9.75″ wingspan to Rubio’s length in the passing lanes Minnesota’s defense improves in a hurry.

Russell played a variety of roles as a freshman at Ohio State University, not always playing point guard but often ending up with the ball in his hands at crucial points in both the open court and the flow of the offense. His 30.2% usage rate supports that – a crazy number of possessions used indeed, but coupled with a 30.1% assist rate and a .573 True Shooting Percentage, it’s clear that Russell made the absolute most of his opportunities.

Such efficiency is incredibly rare in college freshman, especially guards. And all the while, Russell only turned the ball over 14.8% of the time while shooting 41.1% from three-point range on 6.6 long-range attempts per game.

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It’s a rare blend of size (height and wingspan), efficiency (usage and True Shooting Percentage), court vision and intelligence (assist rate and 2.8% steal rate), and proficient shooting. Throw in rebounding ability (9.8% total rebounding rate) and the 19 year-old checks all the boxes for a high draft pick with sky-high expectations.

Russell isn’t ultra-athletic, but his size, instincts, and feel make up for any perceived lack of athleticism, and all of those items are backed up by numbers from his freshman year at Ohio State.

After watching the below highlights, be sure to check out the Draft Express scouting video on Russell for a great breakdown of what he does best.

Russell may be considered a point guard, but his size and outside shooting ability would slot in perfectly between Rubio and Andrew Wiggins, especially if Wiggins continues to operate out of the post as often as he did in his rookie season.

It seems unlikely that the Wolves would end up with Russell or Mudiay with the first-overall pick, and they won’t land another top-five selection without trading Rubio. Which, of course, makes this glance at a Wolves team with a trio of Rubio-Russell-Wiggins pointless.

At any rate, moving Rubio to land another top pick is counter-intuitive, but pairing Russell and Rubio together would be basketball heaven.

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