Making The Pieces Fit
When Kupchak selected Russell in last season’s draft, excitement began swirling around how the dynamic rookie would fair alongside the explosive Kentucky product in the pick and roll. Sequences like these from Summer League play only heightened the buzz (courtesy of Drew Garrison):
What a sight to behold: all three pieces of the Lakers core playing in unison, sharing the ball, and punctuating scoring opportunities to the tune of crisp movement and passing.
Unfortunately, this relaxed, free-flowing play style evaporated during the regular season and expectations plummeted as Russell failed to immediately excel as a pick-and-roll ball handler. He had his moments here and there, but was chronically underutilized by Scott and failed to find a consistent rhythm. In fact, Russell utilized the pick-and-roll just 38.3 percent of the time in the Lakers offense, less frequently than both Lou Williams and professional matador Marcelo Huertas (NBA.com).
The rookie’s production in that role suffered, as he shot just 38.3 percent in his pick-and-roll sets, which resulted in just 0.71 points per possession. This shooting figure places him behind Williams, Clarkson, Huertas, and Kobe Bryant as the team’s most effective ball-handler.
But much of this is out of his control as he often initiated screens with the unenviable roll partners of Robert Sacre and Roy Hibbert, neither of which have any screening acumen. Walton will surely be more fastidious when it comes to personnel and he already has a number of options to pair with Russell in Kerr’s patented high ball-screens.
Despite their dearth of proven talent, Kupchak and the Lakers will have a bevy of athletic young forwards to test in next season’s upgraded pick-and-roll game and will likely snag another in this year’s draft. Randle’s athleticism and ball-handling skills make him an obvious accompaniment as a high screener, but his production last season as a roll man leaves much to be desired.
His biggest issue was his decisiveness, as he often hesitates to make his move off the catch and allowed the defense to reset. An example of this indecision is including in the clip below:
While Randle was able to convert, the spacing was poor as he drove into the lane and the defense had stopped rotating by the time he made his move. Still, at just 21-years-old, he has more than enough time to improve upon of his playmaking, especially in a more fluid system.
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With the personnel and the potential moves still yet to be made for the Lakers, though, Walton could really bring change to this team in the most vital way. It may not result in a postseason berth right away, but it’ll certainly be a step closer than in recent years.