D’Angelo Russell was taken by the Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft after an All-American freshman season at Ohio State. Five years later, “D-Lo” is now on his fourth team in his fifth season playing in the NBA.
Russell spent his first two seasons with the Lakers, but was eventually traded to the Nets after Magic Johnson, who was president of basketball operations for the Lakers at the time, questioned his leadership. The Lakers decided to move on from Russell in hopes that Lonzo Ball would be their point guard of the future.
Russell played the next two seasons with Brooklyn where he led the Nets to the sixth seed in the playoffs and was selected as an All-Star for the first time in his career in 2019.
On June 30, he was involved in a sign-and-trade deal to the Warriors for Kevin Durant after Kyrie Irving decided to sign with the Nets. Many believed this was only a temporary stay for Russell and questioned how he would fit with the Warriors and their backcourt that already consisted of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Despite averaging a career high at close to 24 points per game, Russell was eventually dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 6 in exchange for Andrew Wiggins.
Why would such a talented player like D’Angelo Russell bounce from team-to-team before turning 24?
The truth is that D-Lo has been in unfortunate situations that were beyond his control almost his entire career. After the Nick Young incident in Los Angeles, there was word around the league that he had lost a lot of trust from his teammates. That along with the opportunity for the Lakers to draft a hometown kid in Lonzo Ball allowed the organization to move on from him.
Though Russell had a fantastic second season with Brooklyn, the Nets could not pass on Irving and Durant, and the sign-and-trade allowed the Warriors to get an elite young player in return for Durant leaving. The Warriors trade never felt like a long-term move and it was assumed that they would use Russell as an asset for another trade in the near future.
The good news is that D-Lo seems to have finally found a home in Minnesota playing with one of his close friends, Karl-Anthony Towns. The two have been good friends since high school and both were top players in the 2014 class. Russell, Towns and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker were not shy about the possibility of one day teaming up during a Slam interview in October.
“We gotta do this again, when we’re all on the same team,” Russell says near the end of the interview. “Nah, don’t cut [the film]. Y’all got it on footage. When we’re all on the same team — I ain’t gonna tell you which team because I don’t know — we’re gonna do this again.”
It is pretty funny how Russell was able to speak this into existence. The Minnesota Timberwolves now have one of the most talented young duos in the NBA with Russell and Towns. Perhaps Booker can make their wish come true and join them at some point.
Minnesota has been searching desperately for a point guard after failed experiments with Jonny Flynn, Ricky Rubio and Jeff Teague in the past decade. With D-Lo, the Timberwolves get a 24-year old who already has an All-Star selection and playoff experience under his belt. The Timberwolves seem to be the team that will appreciate Russell’s talents and allow him to develop into the best player that he possibly can.
D-Lo is finally in a situation where he no longer has to look over his shoulder and worry about if he will be taken out for making a mistake or if he will soon be traded. All he has to focus on now is playing his game and helping his team win, so I expect him to do nothing less than shine.
Despite all of the adversity he has faced so early in his career, D’Angelo Russell continues to prove the doubters wrong and take his game to new heights. I am excited to see what D-Lo has in store for the future, as he looks to get the Timberwolves back to the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference.
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