D’Angelo Russell is the Minnesota Timberwolves’ biggest x-factor this season. Despite being the third or fourth option on offense, the one-time All-Star has a domino effect on the rest of the roster. If he can play well, he will elevate the play of others, especially one particular guy.

There are many things the Timberwolves must do right this season if they want to advance past the first round for the second time in franchise history. The biggest question mark entering the season surrounds the Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns pairing. You could argue Anthony Edwards taking that third-year leap as Ja Morant did, is the bigger question.

So, where does Russell fit into this whole thing?

For Gobert and KAT to have success this season, they’ll need Russell to orchestrate the offense in a way that maximizes their skill sets. That’s a large task at hand, but DLo has the talent to do so.

Towns can get himself going offensively without any help and won’t be sharing the floor as much with Russell, so that intricate on offense isn’t crucial. However, Gobert uses the pick and roll to get himself and others going on offense.

His success is primarily dependent on DLo. The two are going to be sharing the floor a lot this season and will run a lot of PNRs.

If DLo doesn’t play well this year, then Gobert’s production will likely take a hit.

During the preseason, Russell looked great and benefited from sharing the floor with the Stifle Tower.

• Los Angeles Lakers: 13 points (5/12 FG, 1/5 3P), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers
• Los Angeles Clippers: 9 points (4/10 FG, 1/4 3P), 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 turnovers
• Los Angeles Lakers: 15 points (5/9 FG, 3/5 3P), 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers
• Brooklyn Nets: 17 points (7/13 FG, 2/5 3P), 6 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers

Granted, it’s the preseason, but he was playing against other NBA starters. These numbers are in limited action, so imagine what he could do in +30 minutes.

Russell’s on a contract year, and the last time he played on one, he made his first and only All-Star Game appearance. He also pushed the Nets to the playoffs on a far less talented team than the Wolves. A large part of their success that year was the Russell-Jarrett Allen pick and roll dynamic.

Gobert is a lot like Allen, but the French big man is a better player and can dominate opposing teams more in PNR situations.

So much of what the Timberwolves want to do this season rides on DLo’s success. There’s a reason they didn’t trade him after looking into the idea this offseason. If he has a big year, that could lead to him leaving in free agency, or better yet, a contract extension with Minnesota.