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Get To Know The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2015 Draft Class

By Jackson Sanders

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; D'Angelo Russell (Ohio State) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; D'Angelo Russell (Ohio State) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 21, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) warms up before the game against the Arizona Wildcats in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) warms up before the game against the Arizona Wildcats in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

D’Angelo Russell: The Playmaker

If you liked last year’s MVP race between Stephen Curry and James Harden, I suggest getting extremely, stupidly excited about the Los Angeles Lakers choice at second overall. If you didn’t, I suggest getting extremely, stupidly excited anyway, because this kid is going to be good.

D’Angelo Russell is a combo-guard — it’s easy to see him eventually easing into a shooting guard role after a few seasons — with the upside of either of last year’s top-two MVP candidates. There is a lot of Curry in his game with regards to his passing ability and shooting stroke, and he has the frame to match Harden at 6’5”.

He adds much needed three-point shooting to the roster, and should be able to carry the offensive burden once he acclimates to the NBA. And, as Zach Harper of CBS Sports wrote, he is going to be a dynamic player out of pick-and-roll sets next season:

"Of his 212 shot attempts coming from the pick-and-roll, Clarkson was 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) on 3-pointers. That’s a good percentage, but an almost nonexistent rate of taking 3s out of the pick-and-roll. Of the 116 shots Russell took at Ohio State in the pick-and-roll, he was 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) on 3s. He made more 3s in nearly half the overall field-goal attempts than Clarkson even took altogether."

For the Lakers, Russell will serve as the primary playmaker. He is a creative passer — at times reaching “van-Gogh-esque” levels of brilliance — leading Byron Scott to compare him to one Magic Johnson.

Comparing the 19-year-old Russell to a living legend is a bit silly, but it’s clear that he’s going to add a dimension to the Lakers’ offense that they haven’t seen in quite some time.

Between his scoring skill and innate ability to set up his teammates, it’s clear that D’Angelo Russell will be ready to be a playmaker from Day 1.

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