Lakers: Is Luke Walton “Byron Scotting” D’Angelo Russell?
We all know Luke likes to spread the teams minutes out but is it hurting D’Angelo Russell’s development?
D’Angelo Russell had another strong offensive game Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs, finishing with 18 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. When he was on the floor, the Lakers were an exponentially better team. Unfortunately, he wasn’t out there enough to follow up his 29 point performance with another big game.
Russell was taken out of the game early in the third quarter and wouldn’t return to the floor until the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter. He finished the game with only 29 minutes.
With the Lakers being down by almost 20 the whole night, it’s hard to understand why Walton wouldn’t loosen the reins on Russell a little more especially with how well he was playing. Russell is the best offensive player the Lakers have and he needs more minutes. The only reason I can think of is injury and trying to get everyone minutes since players are essentially auditioning for a spot on next years team.
While looking at Russell’s stats from last year, I was surprised to see that Byron actually played him more than Walton does! That’s pretty shocking considering Byron was given so much heat for not playing him enough but Walton is actually playing him less and getting away with it. Hopefully, Magic notices that and has a conversation with Luke about playing Russell more.
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Russell is averaging almost 15 points and five assists throughout the season but his per 36 stats are pretty good. Per 36 minutes D-Lo is averaging 20 points six assists and five rebounds. It would be higher if he played this aggressive throughout the season. Through the past two games, D’Angelo has been clearly more aggressive, averaging 23 points, four assists, and four rebounds.
For the first time in a long time, Russell played 36 minutes against the Thunder and the numbers were higher than projected for him. It’s no coincidence, Russell is a scorer but he needs more minutes to get more points.
Next: Highs and Lows vs San Antonio
Do you think Luke is holding Russell back at all? Were you as surprised as I was to find out Luke is playing D’Angelo less than Byron did? Let us know in the comments section and follow us on twitter @TheLakeShowLife