Lakers: D’Angelo Russell Proving Himself a Starter is ‘All That Matters’

D’Angelo Russell is back starting for the Lakers, now proving he’s worthy is his primary focus

It took two months of confusion and dismay, but D’Angelo Russell is finally back in the Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup. After coming off the bench for the majority of the season, Russell has spent the last three games in a starting role and, by the way it sounds, he is planning on staying there.

In an interview with TWC Sportsnet following Wednesday’s loss to the Grizzlies, Russell gave an interesting take on his renewed starting role (per Serena Winters of Lakers Nation):

Interesting post-game response from D'Angelo Russell on @TWCSportsNet on settling into the starting lineup: pic.twitter.com/bsvlFu55b5
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) February 25, 2016

The Ohio State standout says a lot here. Clearly he is grateful for the opportunity to prove his worth as a starter and understands why a starting job is not something to be taken lightly. But more importantly, Russell sounds like he knows that this promotion comes with a responsibility.

Acknowledging that he “didn’t really have to work for it” to start the season shows maturation and he’s come out of the All-Star break with an aggression that was previously lacking. The second-overall pick has attacked the rim with much more consistency over his last three starts, settling for fewer pull-up jumpers and instead using his length to finish in the paint.

Here’s a look at his shotchart from Wednesday night against Memphis:

Prior to re-entering the starting lineup on Feb. 21, Russell was shooting just 25.5 percent of his shots from within 10 feet of the basket. Over his last three contests, that number is up to 32.4 percent, per NBA.com. Against the Grizzlies, Russell took eight of his 19 shots from around the basket, converting on five of them.

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A prominent critique of Russell’s game has been his tendency to settle for mid-range jumpers in pick-and-roll situations instead of continuing his drives into the paint. He has been shooting just 41.3 percent in pick-and-roll situations and making only 36.2 percent on pull-up jumpers (NBA.com). If the 6-5 guard continues to use his length to finish at the rim, only good things will happen.

His passing ability has seen a jolt of late, too. Russell’s assist average has risen from 3.5 per game this season to six per contest over has last three. That stretch also marks just the second time this season he’s had four-plus assists in three consecutive games. This could be attributed to his improved play, as well as a growing cohesion with his teammates who have often been guilty of mishandling would-be assists.

	MPG	PPG	APG	FG%	3P%
First 54 Games	27	12.1	3.3	41.5	33.1
Last 3 Games	32	15.3	6	45.9	53.3

So far, the coaching move has yielded great results. The only possible downside of Russell’s new role is his overlapping playing time with Bryant, who often soaks up possessions by all himself. Yet, the rookie is actually shooting 46.5 percent with Bryant on the floor compared to just 37.8 percent with him off (Basketball-Reference). Perhaps the inexplicable double-teams that Kobe still commands create more room to operate when the young guard is on the floor.

While we’re operating with an admittedly small sample size, the optics of Russell returning to the starting lineup look good, both for the organization and for him personally. Despite turning just 20 years old this week, Russell is already no stranger to the white hot spotlight of Los Angeles.

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He’s survived benching, public criticism from his coach, and a truly unfortunate pass from LeBron James. As his rookie year approaches the final stretch, all he has left to do is play ball.