What NOBODY is Noticing About D'Angelo Russell & Karl-Anthony Towns ft(Malik Beasley, Trade,Def

It's taken 5 years, but D'Angelo Russell finally has a home. It isn't Los Angeles. It isn't Brooklyn. It isn't Golden State. It's Minnesota. Who would have thought after all of these years, that D'Lo would actually be a Timberwolf. It's been a long journey and D'Lo has come a long way. It's easy to forget that D'Lo is only 24 years old. It feels like this guy has been in the NBA forever. As it stands, I think D'Lo's best basketball is in front of him, and I don't think he'd have it any other way. D'Lo loves Minnesota, and Minnesota, it loves him back, and they should. He's one of the NBA's best young point guards, and now he's paired with one of the NBA's best young bigs in Carl Anthony Towns. But of course this isn't my GM mode, this isn't 2K. Building a roster in real life, it takes much more than talent, but talent goes a very long way. The Timberwolves this season were a team that was struck by injury and poor roster construction. I don't want to say the Timberwolves were bad, because they were flat out terrible. They currently have the 3rd worst record in the entire NBA at 19 and 45. Though the Timberwolves weren't always bad this season, they got off to a pretty decent start. A start that was so decent, that their social media team let out a tweet. A meme ironically true irony is, is that they actually were. But despite being bad, despite this storm brewing in Minnesota, there's been some light, as there normally is after every storm. The 2020 trade deadline is one that has the potential to live in Wolves fans hearts forever, and one that has the potential to shape the future of the team for the next decade if not slightly longer. Let's take a quick moment to recap everything that went down for the Wolves on the deadline. They send out Wiggins, Dang, Jopp, Shabazz Napier, Jordan Bell, Noah Vonlay, Roko, a 2021 1st round pick that's protected and a 2022 2nd round pick. They bring in D'Lo, Malik Beasley, Hernan Gomez, James Johnson, Evan Turner, a 2020 1st round pick that's protected, Omari Spellman, and Jacob Evans. Sometimes you have to give up a little to get a lot, sometimes you have to give up a lot to get a lot. Regardless of what you think, the Wolves did how they fared at the 2020 trade deadline. You can't argue that these moves don't have the potential to change their franchise. Change was needed and they knew it. Carl Anthony Towns had been growing more and more frustrated this season, and I mean who can blame him. If personally dropped 15 straight Ls, you're going to reflect, maybe just a little bit. A major problem for the Timberwolves this season has been their defense, and a lot of that, many people feel rests on the shoulders of Carl Anthony Towns, somebody who is one of if not the best offensive center in the game currently. It's crazy that it's come to this, but I feel like now Carl Anthony Towns shooting overshadows the rest of his offensive repertoire. Let's take things back all the way to 2018 when Carl Anthony Towns dropped his career high and franchise record 56 points against the Atlanta Hawks. Sometimes people forget Carl Anthony Towns is one of the best back to the basket centers in the NBA, and when he commits to scoring down low you flat out have to double team him. As showcased in this 56 point game, he scores in the paint with absurd efficiency, and it's not just on post ups. If you run Cat off the 3 point line, you're going to be in trouble. He's an athlete, he can finish at the rim or above it. Cat dropped 56 showcasing everything, back to the basket, jump shots, 3 pointers, you name it, Cat brought it out. Averaging nearly 27 points per game this season and 11 boards, Cat is shooting over 50% from the 3 point line. He's not just hitting threes at an incredible rate, he's taking them at an absurd volume. Cat is taking nearly 8 threes per game, and I'm not sure the Timberwolves coach would have it any other way. He's somebody that wants to get up the court, play fast, and take a lot of threes. He's somebody that wants to get away from the midrange game. You know what they're doing out in Houston? Yeah, he wants something like that. But I'm not sure that Minnesota has the players that Houston currently has. James Harden is flat out one of the best isolation players in the NBA. You can't check this guy one on one, it's a team effort. As a matter of fact, Harden is one of the best scorers of all time. He's so good that people were taking nearly 40 points per game for granted. Houston also has another player by the name of Russell Westbrook, an MVP just like James Harden. He's somebody that doesn't like to take threes. You'd think this would make D'Antoni mad, but what it did is it made D'Antoni adapt. He wants Westbrook to play his game. This is what good coaches do, the Rockets were their best when both James Harden and Westbrook were playing their style of basketball. Westbrook attacking the basket, taking the short jumpers, chilling on the three pointers, making the whole team around him better. Now look, don't get confused, I'm not saying the Timberwolves want to play this isolation brand of basketball that the Rockets play, no I'm saying they want to play to the analytics. So much so, that they currently have the third highest three point frequency of any NBA team this season. Number one, you guessed it, the Houston Rockets. But perhaps the main difference between the Rockets and the Timberwolves isn't even James Harden or Russell Westbrook. The Timberwolves, just like the Rockets, aren't good at shooting the three pointer. While the Rockets are middle of the pack, the difference is that the Timberwolves are .2% from being dead last. How can the Timberwolves be so close to dead last in three point percentage when they have somebody that's shooting the ball nearly 8 times a game from deep at over 40%. He's shooting the three ball better than Damien Lillard, better than Trae Young, better than Dee Book. He's got a career three point percentage that's better than Dirk Nowitzki. Too far? Before the trade deadline, the Timberwolves needed a massive overhaul at the guard position and they got it. D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, not only did they get some of the perimeter shooting that they coveted, but they just upgraded as a whole. Coop, didn't you tell us about Malik Beasley? Yeah I did, but I don't know if you guys were listening. Since getting out of that log jam in Denver, Malik Beasley has looked like a completely different player. All my guy needed was opportunity and he's making the most of it. He's an explosive high energy guard that shoots nearly 40% from the three point line and can get hot in less than a second. Off the dribble, an improving part of his game. Catch and shoot? Oh yeah that's no problem. A tough three taker and maker that's been averaging nearly 20 points per game since he arrived in Minnesota. Some want him as a six man, but I view him as a long-term high-level starter with upside. And I'm thinking star upside. With Beasley and D'Lo, the Timberwolves have their backcourt of the future. Though I do think it's funny, D'Lo is one of the league's best mid-range shooters. He shoots the mid-range jumper at around 55%. Incredibly efficient and downright elite. But remember what I said earlier about coaching and mid-range? The Wolves have hated the mid-range shot so much that they've tried to funnel other teams into taking that jump shot. They've been running a drop back scheme, leaving Carl Anthony Towns vulnerable on pick and rolls. Part of what makes the Wolves defense so bad is that teams simply destroy them from this area. But it's much more than that because not only are they the worst mid-range defense in the NBA, they're one of the worst paint defenses. You see the Bucks run a similar scheme, a scheme in which they drop their pick and roll. They run it with Giannis, they run it with Brook Lopez, but you see the Bucks are incredibly versatile, incredibly bought in, and incredibly athletic. Brook Lopez and Giannis, two of the best paint defenders in the NBA. The Bucks are one of the most physically intimidating teams in the league simply because of their length and their paint defense. But I mean hey, they're incredibly versatile like I said. This helps propel the Bucks into one of the best defenses in the NBA. Their guards, their players that go over the top of these screens, they also don't give up on plays, they make life hard for ball handlers. When Carl Anthony Towns was out, the scheme that Saunders was trying to employ worked a lot better defensively. During that span, the T-Wolves had one of the better defensive ratings in the NBA. I know what you guys are thinking, is this all Kat's fault and what happens if you play a center that can shoot? Also, why weren't the Timberwolves winning with their drastically improved defense? The answer is that their already not great offense got way way worse. And for the centers that can shoot, most of them simply aren't Kat. They're not knocking the three ball down at 41%. Those three pointers from around the top of the arc are very tough and long shots, and not the worst to allow. And the Bucks know this. Corner threes, they're a good bit shorter. That's why you see some guys in the NBA make a name for themselves out of the corner. Kind of like P.J. Tucker. A list of guards have torched the Timberwolves for running this scheme or something similar to it. One of those guards? D'Angelo Russell. What did he drop? 52 points. Look, I gotta say that's kind of tough. While overall D'Lo isn't a great defender, he was one of the best clutch defenders on the Golden State Warriors. Does D'Lo just have to lock in? And the same goes for Kat. Or schematically, should the Timberwolves completely look to change how they approach their defense? If D'Lo and Kat both played for winning great defensive coaches and great defensive teams, I think they'd be fine. Because we've seen teams hide not great defenders before. And these two have a proven track record that show they have defensive talent. When Kat came out of college, everybody thought he was going to be another defensive shot blocking big out of Kentucky. To quote NBADraft.net, very good shot blocker, though not a huge leaper, has excellent timing and shows the ability to use his great length as a rim protector. Shows better speed than quickness and can really motor once he gets ahead of steam. Hustles and shows willingness to defend and play hard. Sometimes I think people sleep on the offensive toll that some of these players have to carry. That's why I was never mad at James Harden for his alleged poor defense. The NBA season is long and everybody doesn't load manage. But I have to say, knowing things like this, I respect great two-way players all the more. D'Lo and Kat screening rolls, D'Lo and Kat screening pops. The offensive versatility this team is going to have and now has is simply ridiculous. D'Lo is one of the best and most creative ball handlers in the NBA. He sees the floor like a true point guard, but that doesn't mean he scores like one. D'Lo can flat out fill it up from deep, which makes guarding them all the tougher. Imagine running somebody off the three-point line to have them pull up and knock down a 55 percent shot. They say the mid-range is a lost art, while some are still painting the picture. I've liked what I've seen from Hernan Gomez also. Great off-ball movement, continue to open up that floor for Kat and D'Lo because he can get downhill too. And with the Wolves having the third worst record in the NBA, all of a sudden it becomes the best. Because now you're looking at a team that has potential to win the NBA lottery. Halliburton. This is a good class that gives the Wolves the potential to turn things around in a hurry. And you can't tell me that this duo hasn't already thought about the possibility of going after Devin Booker. Two down, one to go. Be sure to click the video on the screen right now guys. It's incredibly dope, you won't want to miss it. Be sure to subscribe. I'm D Koop and I'm out.