When the Minnesota Timberwolves traded for D’Angelo Russell in Feb. 2020, it was supposed to be a turning point for the franchise. Three years later, Russell is thriving in the playoffs, but he’s doing so with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Russell scored 21 points and added five assists in the Lakers’ 127-97 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Saturday night but the headlines came after the game, when the 27-year-old suggested he had been held back with the Timberwolves during an interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
“I felt like I was held back there, honestly,” Russell said. “I just kind of had to be the third option. Some nights, I was a little more aggressive and was kind of being held back. So to be in a position now where I can kind of thrive and be aggressive and it gets guys going and where the team reflects of anybody with that type of energy, it’s fun.”
Russell’s resurgence has coincided with a change of scenery after the Timberwolves sent him to Los Angeles in a three-team deal where Minnesota acquired Mike Conley Sr. Although he is averaging fewer points and assists per game with the Lakers, he was expected to be more of a facilitator in Minnesota in order to get Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert involved.
“I felt that my confidence was being taken away with the style that I was playing in,” Russel said of his role with the Wolves. “I’m a killer, man. I’m a bird that needs to fly, and I couldn’t really fly there. They put me in a box that I was successful in…but I did that for confidence. … I had to kind of cater to guys and respectfully, I was with it because we were winning but I know what type of player I am.”
While Russell said that he never asked to be traded, he also said it was his gut feeling that he wanted out because of his fit with the Wolves.
“I never asked out,” Russell told Amick. “Never. I just felt that [I wanted out] in my gut. I never spoke on it. I never showed that, I just felt it that’s all.”
Russell isn’t the first former Timberwolves player to thrive in the playoffs in a different environment. The player he was traded for, Andrew Wiggins, became a key role player during the Warriors’ run to the NBA championship last year, and Jimmy Butler is currently pushing the eighth-seeded Miami Heat to a 2-1 lead over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
While Russell is an impending free agent, he mentioned he would like to stay with the Lakers but admitted it’s a fluid situation.
“I would love to stay here, but I would have loved to be in Minnesota, too,” Russell said. “So wherever my feet are, that’s where I’m gonna be.”
