Byron Scott has named D’Angelo Russell for the remainder of the season, and it’s an awesome decision.
In the infamous words of LeBron James, “It’s about damn time!”
Before the Los Angeles Lakers took the floor against the Chicago Bulls, head coach Byron Scott named rookie D’Angelo Russell the team’s starter for the remaining 25 games of the season. Earlier in the season, Russell was pulled as the starter and replaced by Lou Williams up until last night. The Lakers didn’t exactly go south without starting Russell, but the underlying factor is how many pundits and fans felt like Russell’s move to the bench was an inhibitor to his growth.
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With big plans for the free agency period, Russell’s development may be the most important factor hovering over the team’s rebuild. As the Lakers look across the league, they are watching the golden age of point guards led by Steph Curry and hoping that Russell can become half the player that Curry has morphed into the past two years. The faster he grows, the better the Lakers have a chance at becoming, along with his teammates.
Speaking of teammates, both Russell and fellow young piece Julius Randle were benched during the same juncture of the year. Randle has also made his way back to the starting five. Plenty of questions surrounded the two players, including some trade talk as general manager Mitch Kupchak advised ESPN’s Jovan Buha during the all-star break:
"“There is an awful lot of interest in our young players, and I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll do anything there,” Kupchak said. “A lot of the other players are on one-year deals, expiring contracts, which strategically could affect the offseason in terms of cap room and stuff like that.“There’s a lot of conversation, but I think it’s unlikely that anything significant will happen.”"
So aside from just the adjustment in and out of the lineup, the Lakers’ young guns, especially Russell, are safe from any major changes. Outside of the trade talk, the subject at hand centered on what was next for the Lakers to do with their relegated rookies and second-year guys. Obviously it seems that Scott conceded to the need to get their core invaluable experience going into the off-season.
Now as Russell leads the Lakers, he has certainly set the pace for what looks like a strong finish to the season. Last night’s matchup against Derrick Rose proved to be just what he needed to jumpstart his confidence, which looked up and down earlier throughout the year.
Russell had a solid all-around game that seemed to spread across the board for the Lakers. He joined Kobe Bryant, Jordan Clarkson, and the aforementioned Julius Randle in double-digit scoring on Sunday night.
Randle finishes with 22/12 on a 54.1 TS%, Clarkson had 20/9/4 on a 53.6 TS%, and Russell with 15/2/6/1 on a 54.0 TS%. Kids had a good night.
— Ben Rosales (@brosales12) February 22, 2016
Overall, the expectations are going to be relatively low for the Lakers the rest of the way. Russell has the perfect opportunity to flourish with no worries on restrictions or being benched. Without that pressure, fans may get a glimpse at more frequent moments of why teams wanted to move up and draft the young guard.
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As mentioned, the Lakers will no doubt heighten their attraction of pending free agents this year and beyond. All of the future doesn’t rest on Russell’s shoulders, but a good bit of it can be affected if he keeps up these types of steady performances.