Brooklyn Nets: 2017-18 player grades for D’Angelo Russell

Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell had some ups and downs throughout the 2017-18 season, with more promise than production. Here is a detailed evaluation of him.

To say the least, Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell has had an unstable start to his career. After the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him second overall in 2015, it only took two scintillating seasons for them to cut him loose.

In doing so, they attached him to Timofey Mozgov‘s albatross contract, in exchange for Brook Lopez‘s expiring contract and the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft (that turned into Kyle Kuzma). Fans and pundits across the league saw the insane value from this deal for Brooklyn, as elite talents like Russell do not come easy.

Additionally, the Nets were in desperate need of a quality guard to run the offense. Jeremy Lin was a solid placeholder, but nothing special. Isaiah Whitehead had shown little promise. Spencer Dinwiddie hadn’t yet ascended to where he is now.

Unfortunately, Russell barely got a chance to prove himself before going down with a knee injury in mid-November. Along with Lin’s injury, this opened the door for Dinwiddie to make a name for himself, and he arguably ran the offense better than Russell did.

The two-month season known as the Dinwiddie show was great for the Nets, but not so great for DLo. His status quickly devolved from franchise guard to WINwiddie’s inferior before even stepping on the court again.

When he did step on the court, he had shaky results. He poured in 15.5 points a game, but he needed 14.0 shots per game to do so. He did average 5.2 assists though, and threaded quite a few needles to exhibit his potential as the offense’s head honcho.