Did The Lakers Trade For The Wrong OSU Point Guard At The Deadline?
On Tuesday, your Los Angeles Lakers successfully faced off against a depleted Minnesota Timberwolves club missing its two best defense players, starting small forward Jaden McDaniels and starting center Rudy Gobert, plus key reserve big man Naz Reid.
But it wasn't easy. The Timberwolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Mike Conley, got off to a stellar start in the game's first half, and led by double digits, 60-49, at the break.
Los Angeles, conversely, stumbled out of the gate.
A big part of the reason LA almost lost a game it seemed destined to win was the miserable scoring of the club's starting point guard, former Timberwolves starter D'Angelo Russell.
D-Lo, at least by salary and reputation, was probably the returning centerpiece of the Lakers' epic three-team swap with Minnesota and the Utah Jazz which helped completely revitalize Los Angeles for the 2022-23 season's home stretch.
In the deal, Los Angeles shipped out the egregious $47.1 million contract of ex-All-Star point Russell Westbrook and the veteran's minimum deal of little-used reserves Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones and to Utah, while receiving shooting guard Malik Beasley and power forward Jarred Vanderbilt from Utah, and Russell from Minnesota, who essentially exchanged him with the Jazz for another Ohio State University point guard, the aforementioned Mike Conley.
There's a reason Minnesota opted not to retain D'Angelo Russell this season. The extension-eligible 26-year-old is ostensibly in line for a massive payday this summer if he reaches unrestricted free agency. Clearly, the Wolves were uncomfortable with keeping him around long-term, and opted for 35-year-old Conley's steadier presence as a playmaker and reliable jump shooter.
Russell is more of a scoring point guard and less of a setup man. He got off to a scorching hot shooting start with LA, and finished the season averaging 17.4 points on .484/.414/.735 shooting splits, 6.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds a night across 17 games.
But he fell apart in what should have been a blowout Los Angeles victory given both clubs' personnel situations, finishing with just two points (but eight assists) on 1-of-9 shooting and seeing his minutes slashed to accommodate his backup, Dennis Schröder, who had a much better two-way night.
Conley, meanwhile, was one of the main reasons the Timberwolves almost pulled off the upset. He was everywhere for Minnesota, stepping up to meet the moment. In 43:36, Conley scored 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor (6-of-8 from deep!) and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe. The 6'1" vet also pulled down four rebounds, dished out four dimes, swiped three steals, and even blocked a shot!
At their peaks, there was no question who was the superior player. Conley was a two-way force while leading the Grit 'n' Grind Memphis Grizzlies, with the passing acumen and floor-spacing savvy to make him one of the league's elite point guards.
Russell has always seemed like a shooting guard stuck in a point guard's body, though he's been solid as a distributor in recent years. There's a reason he's been passed around from team-to-team while on his current, quite pricey contract. Yes, he's obviously a better fit for LA than an aging Russell Westbrook, but that Tuesday game has certainly left some fans wondering how much better this season's Lakers might be had LA not involved Minnesota in that three-team deal.
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