D’Angelo Russell was one of the biggest players in the fascinating 2019 offseason, as he was sent to the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade with the injured Kevin Durant. While this was a seismic move in a number of ways, Russell has been nothing short of spectacular on offense to start his Warriors tenure, yet he has been stymied by a right thumb injury for the past few games.
Now, according to reporting from Logan Murdock of NBC Sports, Russell will sit out the next two games against the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks.
Russell has only played in half of the Warriors’ 20 games this season, but the 23-year-old has already accrued career-highs of 52 points in a game and 37 field goal attempts in a game.
Seeing as the All-Star guard is often the only big name playing on an extremely top-heavy Warriors squad that features a bevy of injured stars, such as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, he often gets all he can eat on the offensive end.
Russell is such a driving force of the Warriors’ offense that he is putting up career-highs in points per game (24.3), field goal percentage (45.5%), effective field goal percentage (52.9%), true shooting percentage (57.1%) and usage rate (33.1%).
With very few options on the injury-riddled Warriors team, they need Russell, despite the impressive early seasons of rookie Eric Paschall and sophomore Omari Spellman.
Still, Russell’s offensive exploits will be welcomed back with open arms once the All-Star does return to the fold.