Minnesota Timberwolves: How low was D’Angelo Russell ranked among PGs?

The Minnesota Timberwolves have a pair of young All-Stars on maximum contracts in Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell, but it’s fair to say that that’s where the similarities end.

Towns is generally considered to be a top 25 player in the league, and it wasn’t long ago that he was a consensus top-20 player. Russell, on the other hand, barely made the top 20 in his own position group on a recent list ranking the league’s best point guards.

Minnesota Timberwolves: How low was D’Angelo Russell ranked among PGs?

Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina is ranking the top 22 players at each individual position. After (understandably) not ranking any Wolves in the top 22 at small forward, the Wolves’ D’Angelo Russell did land on the list of top point guards.

Russell, however, was named No. 17 on the list. If you’re scoring at home, that’s easily in the bottom half of point guards league-wide.

So, what gives? Russell was an All-Star just two years ago, is still only 25 years old, and is on a max contract. He shot a career-best 38.7 percent from 3-point range last year and continues to put up impressive scoring numbers.

Clearly, his defense is the biggest issue. But hsi offense is so good that it was a little surprising to see him rank as low as No. 17.

Let’s look at which players beat him out and whether or not their rankings were justified.

Which players should not have out-ranked D’Angelo Russell?

The players ranked just in front of Russell definitely belong to be there.

Miami’s Kyle Lowry is probably too low at No. 16, as is Lonzo Ball at No. 15. Lowry’s been around so long that folks are somehow underappreciating him, and Ball was so overrated early in his career that he’s now being underrated as he’s legitimately improved his game over the past couple of seasons.

An argument could be made to bump Malcolm Brogdon (No. 14) below Russell, but Fred VanVleet (No. 13) is ranked in the right spot. Mike Conley is in a good spot at No. 12.

LaMelo Ball being ranked No. 11 seems a bit aggressive after only a 51-game sample and just 31 games as a starter, but it’s understandable to put him ahead of D’Lo.

Russell Westbrook at No. 10 is perhaps a bit high and I wouldn’t want him on the Wolves, but it makes sense to rank him ahead of Russell.

Somehow, the top 10 is where it gets weird. Ben Simmons is criminally low at No. 9, and D’Aaron Fox at No. 8 is … high. The worst ranking, however, is Ja Morant at No. 6. Ranking Morant ahead of Simmons, Westbrook, both Balls, and even Russell is downright bonkers.

Last season, Morant turned in an ESPN Real Plus-Minus of 0.41. That ranked No. 28 among point guards and was well behind Russell’s mark of 0.98, not to mention several other guards ranked behind Morant on the Hoops Hype list.

That’s not the only metric that didn’t love Morant, either. While he’s a fun young player on a fun, young team, ranking Morant as the No. 6 point guard is crazy.

Ultimately, Russell should be bumped up a couple of spots to No. 15, maybe No. 14 if we’re stretching things. D’Lo has a lot to prove this year, namely that he can seamlessly transition between initiating the offense and playing off the ball with Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards leading the way.

Russell also needs to compete defensively, which is something that we haven’t seen much of throughout his career.

It’s hard to get too upset about Russell’s No. 17 ranking, even if it is a few spots low. If the Wolves are a playoff team, however, that mark could certainly change on next year’s edition.