Lakers 2015-16 Season Roster Grades: D’Angelo Russell
Grading D’Angelo Russell’s rookie year with the Lakers for the 2015-16 NBA season
Los Angeles Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell has had an interesting season, to say the very least. From initial miscues, to in-season improvement, then to off-court drama, Russell has experienced a season unlike that of any other rookie in the NBA.
To start, D’Angelo had a poor beginning to the season—his vaunted vision and his silky jumpshot were nowhere to be seen. Struggling to dictate the game on both ends of the floor, Russell looked lost and confused.
Though his rookie year hasn’t been as impressive as that of Karl-Anthony Towns or Kristaps Porzingis, several extenuating circumstances have to be taken into consideration when evaluating Russell’s rookie year.
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For one, the prolonged Kobe Bryant farewell tour, which resulted in Bryant being granted carte blanche control of the offense, stunted the youngster’s growth. In a season originally intended to serve as a developmental year, Bryant’s sudden announcement of his retirement changed the focus of the entire season. As a result, Kobe began chucking up many shots that, in retrospect, should have been in the hands of Russell and the rest of the Lakers’ young players.
Though Bryant’s farewell melodrama is certainly not an excuse for all of Russell’s poor play, the youngster’s freedom on the court was certainly inhibited to a degree by Bryant’s frequent outbursts of ill-advised shots.
Similarly, Russell’s gratuitous minute fluctuations played a role in his poor start to the season. The culprit, head coach Byron Scott, often inexplicably benched Russell in late game situations in favor of veterans such as Lou Williams or older rookies like Marcelo Huertas. Not only did this lessen D’Angelo’s exposure to close fourth quarter games, but it also resulted in him playing timid while he was on the court, afraid of making mistakes that could lead to late-game benchings.
Due to his reluctance to play his prized rookie valuable minutes and his infamous decision to bench Russell thereafter, Scott became the recipient of much blame, and deservedly so. Thankfully for Lakers fans, D’Angelo began to play much better as his minutes and his role began to increase. With roughly two-thirds of the season gone, Scott decided to start Russell again, and the results spoke for themselves.
The eventual progression of Russell’s play was manifest, culminating in a 39-point performance in which he showed his potential as a volume scorer and as a possible star. Though his season has been tumultuous, Russell showed signs of development each and every month. As general manager Mitch Kupchak noted, Russell was a completely different player by the end of his rookie season than he was during his brief stint in the Summer League.
Now let’s see how his rookie year graded out.
Next: The Final Grade