3 things D’Angelo Russell would bring to the table for the Minnesota Timberwolves
By Jack Borman
2. Pick and Roll Playmaking
If Russell decides to run with the Pack in Free Agency, you can expect a heavy dose of high pick and rolls with Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng.
D’Angelo was the ball handler in the pick and roll on whopping 11.4 possessions per game, which was good for second among all guards in the entire NBA last season.
He averaged 0.89 points per possession in the pick and roll and scored on 40.3 percent of those possessions, which is great for a 22-year old point guard. These metrics do not factor in the assists he has out of these situations either, which illustrates the presence Russell has on the floor when running the pick and roll.
Furthermore, the Brooklyn ran pick and roll sets with Russell as the ball handler in 49.9 percent of their offensive sets when he was on the floor. That was second-highest in the league among point guards last season, trailing only Chicago’s Kris Dunn.
D-Lo was electric in both dribble handoff and screen and roll situations for the Nets. He uses a change of pace and lethal step back move to distance himself from on-ball defenders and pull defenders away from teammates on the wing.
When roll man defenders switch onto Russell coming off screens, he makes them pay, plain and simple. He puts taller defenders on skates and often utilizes pretty ball fakes to create wide open looks for himself and his teammates.
Taller defenders frequently switch onto D-Lo in handoff situations. When that happens, it leaves Russell with a fun decision to make. He can either:
A) pull the taller defender away from the basket and put on a show, create space by crossing up the defender and then attack him 1-on-1, or B) get downhill going towards the rim and then either finish in traffic or throw lobs to the rolling teammate who handed off the ball to him.
In dribble handoff sets, Russell averaged 0.98 points per possession and shot an efficient 48.7 percent from the floor.
If Ryan Saunders placed Russell in pick and roll or dribble handoff sets with guys like KAT and Wiggins as roll/handoff men, the Wolves would kill opposing defenses.