The Minnesota Timberwolves ended the D’Angelo Russell experiment on Wednesday, sending him to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team trade. The Lakers sent Russell Westbrook to Utah, likely to get bought out. The Wolves received Mike Conley from the Jazz and sent Russell back to Los Angeles. Old friends Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt will rejoin Russell in LA. Tim Connelly has shifted gears, creating a better team fit for the Wolves at the point guard spot. Russell had spurts of incredible production, but he was inconsistent throughout his career.
DLo’s situation created a predicament for Connelly. Extension talks reportedly looked bleak, as The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski reported, “New President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly did not get close to terms on a contract extension with him this season.” Therefore, the Wolves had to decide whether to risk attempting to bring him back this offseason or trade him at the deadline. They could still find a replacement in Conley, a 15-year veteran, which was vital. Jordan McLaughlin was the only other point guard on the roster, and he’s coming off a lengthy calf injury.
Although Conley is on the decline, it feels his playstyle may better match what the Wolves want at the point guard position. Here is how Russell and Conley statistically match up this season:
Conley isn’t as efficient or putting up the same counting stats as Russell. However, he is feasible enough as a playmaker and shooter to be a lower-usage version of Russell. Conley’s stats only show so much. It takes diving deeper into his game to better understand what Conley can bring to the table. We also have to consider how much this could change for Rudy Gobert. His dribble-drive and dump-off passes to Rudy and lobs were incredibly effective in Utah. Conley’s passive nature helps him connect with Gobert. He always tries to find Rudy when he has a seal on his defender or a lane on the roll. Rudy needs others to create better looks for him, which is what Mike can do.
Here are some examples:
As we have seen much of this season, for Gobert to be effective, teams must surround him with the right personnel and schematics. Adding Conley could be a large nod in that direction. After Connelly traded so many assets to get Gobert, he has to do his best to give them a good situation to succeed.
Conley should slot well alongside Anthony Edwards. Donovan Mitchell spent Years 2 to 6 of his career with Conley as his backcourt partner. They were able to play together, supplying a blueprint of how Ant-Conley-Rudy can coexist. After this trade, Ant can dominate the ball, have Conley can still be a positive impact around him. Conley can be a connector in the offense while Ant initiates, and they’ll still be able to move the ball. Kyle Anderson has shown everyone how unselfish basketball can help this team. Quick decision-making and savvy play to keep the ball from becoming stagnant have also been an issue for the Wolves.
Secondly, Conley has shown that he can shoot effectively from three, especially off the catch. We started to see how vital this can be lately when Dlo was on a tear on the catch.
Here is how Conley has faired on catch-and-shoot threes in the past five seasons:
22/23 – 0.8/2.0 (41.9%) | 21/22 – 0.8/1.9 (41.4%) | 20/21 – 1.0/2.5 (40.6%) | 19/20 – 1.1/2.5 (42.0%) | 18/19 – 1.1/2.7 (39.8%)
While this is all very promising from a hypothetical viewpoint, the Wolves still need to find their identity and will still have to spend time bringing Conley into this mix. They’ll also have to make another adjustment when Towns returns.
Furthermore, Conley turns 36 in October. His play has declined, but he’s still a productive player. This is one of the key components to how successful he can be. Luckily, he has one more year as a partial guarantee next season, sitting at a $24.36 million base salary, $14.32 of which is guaranteed. This deal will become guaranteed 48 hours after the ‘23 NBA Draft.
That gives the Wolves more flexibility and a reason to trust in their core of Ant, Gobert, and KAT. We can only peer deeper into this once they are all on the floor together. It’s something we did not get to see a ton with Russell, either. Therefore, the FO will again need the rest of the season to see if their gamble paid off.
