Ranking The Los Angeles Lakers’ 5 Best Players After One Month

3. D’Angelo Russell

Heading into this season, I expected nothing more than a breakout year for D’Angelo Russell. Heck, I even predicted he’d emerge as the next face of the franchise for the Lakers.

Obviously that hasn’t been the case through one month.

Now don’t get me wrong–Russell has been one of the keys to Los Angeles’ early-season success. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t believe they’d have as many wins as they do at this point. However, he hasn’t exactly been the superstar many thought he’d emerge as after an impressive Summer League/preseason showing.

Unfortunately, it won’t get any easier for Russell moving forward. He’s already missed the last three games, and is expected to miss at least a couple more weeks after receiving a PRP injection in his ailing knee (via Mike Bresnahan).

Russell has elite abilities, and could very well unlock them at some point this season. For now, though, he finds himself at No. 3 after an inconsistent and injury-hindered start to the 2016-17 campaign. Don’t worry though, it’s going to get much better for Russell in the very near future.