After haunting end to season, D'Angelo Russell seeks redemption with Timberwolves

D'Angelo Russell was on the Target Center floor with five minutes to play in Game 6 of the Timberwolves' series against Memphis and the score tied at 97.

But with 4 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in the must-win game, coach Chris Finch sent Jordan McLaughlin in for Russell, who was 3-for-7 from the field with four assists and four turnovers, one of which had just led to a Memphis three-pointer.

Russell struggled most of the series against the Grizzlies and wouldn't return to the game, a 114-106 loss that ended Minnesota's season.

There was thinking that Russell wouldn't return to the Wolves at all.

A trade seemed likely. Russell was entering the final year of a maximum contract he signed in the summer of 2019, a contract which will pay him more than $30 million this season.

Before last season, Russell said he was treating that season like a contract year and was hopeful for an extension. He didn't get that, but the Wolves also didn't trade him, and chose to hang on to him after acquiring center Rudy Gobert from Utah.

And when the Wolves take the floor Wednesday night in their NBA season opener, Russell will be announced as the starting point guard.

"Every year my approach is the same," Russell said at the team's media day. "Nothing changes. You see guys approaching a contract year and doing it incorrectly, and it becomes magnified if you're doing it incorrectly. You might not be going about things the right way, or ways you would be going about it if it wasn't a contract year."

This kind of situation — a former All-Star who was benched in the final minutes of a critical game, the subject of trade rumors, and someone who didn't receive a contract he wanted — had the potential to be awkward or combustible.

That hasn't happened with Russell, who has been upbeat with his public comments since the summer. The same goes for the team. If there was any tension or acrimony over how the last several months played out, there has been no public indication of it.

"He's had the exact right attitude and approach," Finch said. "... His approach has been great. He's really done a good job in practice leadership wise, saying the right things."

Russell played in a contract year before, during the 2018-19 season when he was with the Nets. That was the lone year Russell made the All-Star team as an alternate. Russell's numbers that season took a dramatic leap from the prior season. He averaged 1.8 more assists per game (seven total) while keeping his turnovers the same (3.1), averaged 5.6 more points (21.1) and improved his three-point shooting from 32% to 37%.

The Wolves may be betting Russell is similarly motivated in a year they have high expectations of competing in a crowded Western Conference.

"I can't compare to the other years, but I think he's going to have a great year," Finch said.

In his public comments, Russell has tried to diminish the fact that he is playing for his next deal and offered nothing but praise for the team.

"The organization has treated me as great as it could possibly go," Russell said. "And the people that are here now have obviously showed their love toward me and how much they want me to be here. That's all I can ask for."

The man who brought Russell from Golden State and championed him as the franchise's long-term solution at point guard, Gersson Rosas, has been gone for more than a year.

Under current President Tim Connelly, the Wolves are hopeful Russell will have a pick and roll partner in Gobert who can help amplify his strengths on the offensive end of the floor. Gobert's screen setting could create a lot of room for Russell to operate in the mid-range, but the Wolves don't always want him taking that shot, which is not the most analytically sound.

"He's got to mix and know when the mid-range is a good one to take, when to attack the drop coverage, and look for late passes to Rudy," said assistant Pablo Prigioni, who helped develop Russell's game as an assistant in Brooklyn. "I can see those two playing pick-and-roll. It's going to be hard to stop that, especially if you have three shooters [around them]."

Finch is hopeful Russell takes it upon himself to facilitate for others first before he tries to get himself "going." This is especially true early in the season as the Wolves try and figure out their chemistry around a new roster with Gobert in the mix.

"It's important for him right now to really just get the offense humming at a high level because the ball is in his hands so much," Finch said.

If he's able to do so, that humming will remain in harmony between Russell and the rest of the organization — and he'll get paid accordingly.

To help this season's team come together, Russell has been hosting gatherings at his house in an attempt to build camaraderie, forward Taurean Prince said. Russell also became a father this summer, and Prigioni said that had a positive impact on Russell's frame of mind.

"Mentally, I think I have seen D-Lo in so many different moods," Prigioni said. "This one is the best I've ever seen him. Hopefully that impacts his game, so that means it impacts our team."

There will be time for business, but first there's basketball to play.

"Obviously, you go to work to get paid at the end of the week," Russell said. "So I'm going to work to get paid at the end of the year or whatever time may be. And nothing has changed. I'm the same dude, same guy, same approach, and I'm ready."