D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Opted In!

I have no preceeding thoughts on russell when drafted as a player, i do however have high expectations for a #2 pick regardless of what history has shown in regards to those who have been drafted #2

 

russell's public persona just makes it easy to take him apart, i think. his game has been quite good considering his age and experience. quite good. he just doesn't look like a superstar. big deal, not many folks are. he's definitely the most "proven" of all the young talent on the roster, which is why teams are always calling about him. luckily, the FO isn't run by the fanbase.

 

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Agreed with you 1000%

I'm the first to want to ship his a** out but I also do recognize his potential to be a great fit next to Ball as a killer 3 pt shooter. I will give DLo credit when his stroke is on the kid can hit 5-10 3's easy. His stroke is pretty effortless. Having seen enough of Ball's ability to attack and kick ... I am looking forward to seeing a DAR and Ball backcourt

 

some pretty smart folks have the ball/russell roles reversed, and i agree with them. ball's the sg/pg, and russell's the pg/sg.

and i still think that ball looked great in college surrounded by 4 shooters and russell's been hamstrung by playing with nobody who can shoot other than himself. hell, when he had just nick young he made plenty of noise as a distributor.

his mental approach is frustrating, but his talents far outstrip anybody else we've got (or most teams have). and he's not "young jr smith" problematic.

laker fans are just spoiled. not sure what's going to happen when ball isn't a kidd/curry hybrid. god help him and lavar.

 

Huh what? You realize part of the reason myself and others have been critical of DAR is that he isn't a PG!

I'm excited to see Ball take over as the primary PG and let DAR have less responsibilities other than to shoot and play some D.

Why do you think Walton experimented with DAR at SG in the final 10-15 games ?

 

Is this the year DLO unleashes "bully ball" as he termed it last summer? Hopefully he can especially if Ball is drafted at #2.

 

Regardless of who we draft, I hope to see Russell on the team next year. I think his upside is worth more than anything we would get for him in a trade.

 

i realize it; i just see it as misguided. again, if either player is more suited to play off the ball, it is...ironically...ball.

 

i think the theory of ball is a great fit next to russell, actually. i think fox has a great chance at being a better nba player than ball, but i think his fit next to russell is worse, which is why i'm not investing heavily in that particular pre-draft debate. why? fox won't be able to play off the ball. why would that matter to me if i thought russell needed to be off the ball...

i just won't let what i think are bs arguments against russell playing pg slide.

my personal opinion is that the team experimented with it just to keep options open, both in terms of what to do with clarkson and whom to chase in FA. it was less about russell "can't play pg" than it was about "can he play sg?" i think they already know he can play pg.

 

If goal is to have dlo play more off ball why cant fox be considered? As some have pointed out (other forums), everyone knows he couldnt shoot but yet he couldnt be stopped getting into the paint, just like how we all say randle cant go right but he still get his ableit not as efficient as we'd like. This isnt an argument to take fox, just saying we need to draft bpa at 2 not always best fitting, whos to say Fox can become a passable shooter? Yea ball shot 41% from 3s in college but so did Russell and he hasn't surpassed 36% (this is min i considered to be a good 3pt shooter) from 3s as a pro yet

 

The problem I think is not on the basketball court but off it if the whispers are true, the LA nightlife is detrimental to his career, too much of a Nick Young acolyte, just like JC.

 

Yup. I haven't mentioned this but JC is a bad influence on DAR.

Young I don't need to say anything about

 

so trade them both for PG? lol

 

JC is in all my trade scenarios

 

You would notice that Magic and Pelinka, keep on harping on character and work ethic, when ask about their draft prospects. There is something there, you don't see Randle or BI on TMZ preening, acting like tossers.

 

Yup I noticed. DAR and JC I hope have enough common sense to know they're on thin ice.

That's the one thing I like BI, no extra TMZ coverage.