With Timberwolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns still out of commission due to a dislocated wrist, starting guard D’Angelo Russell has struggled as the new focus of the club’s offense, writes The Athletic’s Jon Krawcyznski. The Wolves have lost three straight games in which they have been down by at least 30 points.
Russell has recently been moved by Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders to the shooting guard position to play in tandem with distributor Ricky Rubio at the point. “It can’t be different every night. It’s going to be something we’re running with and we’re sticking with and we build from it,” Russell said.
There’s more out of the NBA’s Northwest Division:
- Second-year Thunder guard Ty Jerome continues to recover from an ankle injury he incurred in training camp this season, Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman tweets. “I think [it happened] in the first practice,” head coach Mark Daigneault. said. “He’s back in OKC on a return-to-play, getting his work in.”
- Mike Singer of the Denver Post details how the Nuggets signed Isaiah Hartenstein to a two-year, veteran’s minimum deal in free agency this offseason. Hartenstein discusses his frustration with a lack of consistent chances on his prior squad in Houston. “With the Rockets, every time they gave me an opportunity I performed,” Hartenstein said.
- Rookie Thunder power forward Aleksej Pokuševski has been placed in the league’s concussion protocol after suffering a concussion in a team practice today, according to a team press release. He has appeared in all five of the Thunder’s outings so far, and is averaging 16.0 MPG.
Wolves 3pt field goal -5 games
DLo 36%
Beasley 30%
Edwards 31%
Okogie 17%
Culver 25%
Last 3 games were blown out by 30 points because of bad defense
KG needs to step in and take over the team. That’s the wolves only path to success…if u ask me
Nuggets are “soft” at every position for now
Wolves have two soft PFs in Layman and Juan
and a few “soft” guards
It will be a competitive game today
Warriors fans have to be loving that trade so far. Sure the Wiggins contract may be the worst in the league, but the Warriors have great vets in Curry, Green, and (hopefully) Thompson. Then, they get to be in the rare position to have Wiseman, the Wolves pick which should be top 5, and in the tough west they may end up back in the lottery with another high pick.
It is very rare that a dynasty gets the chance to add young potential stars while their superstars are aging. Just look at the Spurs as a great example with Robinson and Duncan and then Duncan, Parker, Ginobli, and Leonard at how that can extend a title window.
That dynasty’s already over, it’s been on life support since the 2019 Finals.
Harden will primarily be known for being hard on teammates.
Russell is not having a good yr so far. This whole season has been up and down for a lot of teams. Think you just got to play it out. Give it 30 gms. Way to early for conclusions.
I really like Pokusevski. Can’t believe they didn’t stash him Europe. Has no business in NBA now. Should at least be in G-league for 2 yrs. Could hurt his progression IMO.