ESPN Insider Request

[SourGrapes]

http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/14135035/was-dangelo-russell-right-rookie-losangeles-lakers-nba

Thanks guys

[ralph_i_el]

**** that noise. If someone has insider, hit us up with some of that delicious delicious Chad Ford Big Board....pronto!

[SourGrapes]

I'm hungry for info on d'angelo!

[FreezingTsmoove]

Lakers are holding him back. He needs free reign like Mudiay. I cant imagine a PG playing on a team with Jordan Clarkson, Nick Young, Kobe, and Lou Williams. He's not a SG

[SourGrapes]

Lakers are holding him back. He needs free reign like Mudiay. I cant imagine a PG playing on a team with Jordan Clarkson, Nick Young, Kobe, and Lou Williams. He's not a SG

Agreed. Also needs more actual shooters on the roster and some space in the paint. Hibbert and Randle clog it without fail every time

[Genaro]

Lakers are holding him back. He needs free reign like Mudiay. I cant imagine a PG playing on a team with Jordan Clarkson, Nick Young, Kobe, and Lou Williams. He's not a SG
Yep. Russell walked into the worst roster/coach situation possible. There are no shooters or pick and roll finishers matching his skills, Byron's offensive schemes are lame and Byron doesn't give him much playing time.

[FKAri]

Yep. Russell walked into the worst roster/coach situation possible. There are no shooters or pick and roll finishers matching his skills, Byron's offensive schemes are lame and Byron doesn't give him much playing time.

and it might permanently stunt his development and confidence

[Shade8780]

For years, ESPN Insider's Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton have simulated the kind of discussions that are happening in front offices around the NBA -- where scouts and statistical experts are breaking down NBA prospects using their "eyes, ears and numbers." This season, those conversations are extending beyond the NBA draft to include prospects in their rookie or sophomore seasons.

Is D'Angelo Russell underachieving?

Chad Ford: Three of the top four picks in the 2015 draft are off to terrific starts. Karl-Anthony Towns has been a double-double machine for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jahlil Okafor is averaging 20 PPG for the Philadelphia 76ers and Kristaps Porzingis is having a major impact on the New York Knicks. There's a lot to be excited about there.

Is D'Angelo Russell the next Smush Parker?

Chad Ford: Worse.

How slow is D'Angelo Russell?

Chad Ford: Very.

Enjoy :cheers:

[FreezingTsmoove]

and it might permanently stunt his development and confidence

All I know is Jordan Clarkson and D Angelo are both going nowhere in terms of the team they are on. They dont compliment each other what so ever. On the court Jordan looks off D all the time, its like he hates him

[SourGrapes]

Sincerely hoping for the actual link

[Hey Yo]

Chad Ford: Three of the top four picks in the 2015 draft are off to terrific starts. Karl-Anthony Towns has been a double-double machine for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jahlil Okafor is averaging 20 PPG for the Philadelphia 76ers and Kristaps Porzingis is having a major impact on the New York Knicks. There's a lot to be excited about there.

But the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, Los Angeles Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell, is struggling a little. Lakers fans appear worried that their team either picked the wrong guy or doesn't know how to develop him. Coach Byron Scott and Kobe Bryant have gone out of their way to praise Porzingis.

Russell is getting decent minutes, though he often finds himself benched in the fourth quarter by Scott. But his numbers are shaky. He's averaging fewer than 10 PPG while shooting worse than 40 percent from the field and just 31 percent from 3-point range.

I know your projections loved Russell before the draft. NBA folks loved him too; he finished No. 2 on our Big Board. What's going wrong, Kevin?

Kevin Pelton: Here's the thing: I'm not sure that anything's really going all that wrong. For the most part, Russell's advanced stats are similar to what my college translations projected for him. In fact, he's shooting slightly better on 2-point attempts (45.5 percent) than his Ohio State performance suggested (43.4 percent).

Russell hasn't been as good overall because he's coming up short in a few key areas -- his 3-point percentage, as you mentioned (he was projected for 35.2 percent), his assist rate (5.0 per 100 team plays vs. a projected 6.0) and his free throw rate (3.5 percent of the plays he's used, as compared to a projected 6.8 percent).

I am concerned about the lack of free throws, which could limit Russell's upside. Overall, though, he isn't playing that poorly. I think Towns and Porzingis have been so good that it's creating unrealistic expectations for Russell.

Additionally, I think the tendency to reduce a player's production to highlights (whether on SportsCenter or on Twitter) means a player like Emmanuel Mudiay, who is making a lot of things happen but has a worse PER due to missed shots and turnovers, appears better than Russell, who has largely been in the background.

Are the Lakers getting in the way of Russell's development?

Ford: I believe we all think the 3-point shooting will come. He's not the first rookie who's taken a little while to adjust to the longer 3-point line in the NBA.

The assists can also be partially explained by the fact that Russell just doesn't have the ball in his hands to make those plays as often as he did at Ohio State. Jordan Clarkson is in the backcourt with him and shares the ballhandling duties. And then there's Bryant. While he doesn't dominate the ball the same way he once did, he's still the focal point of the offense in LA.

To what extent can we chalk up Russell's numbers to his situation? Would we be seeing him meet his projections if he had the ball more like Mudiay has in Denver? Or is he just not playing with the same confidence and aggressiveness that Mudiay is (for good and for bad)?

Pelton: That's the million-dollar question, right? Believe it or not, according to SportVU tracking on NBA.com/Stats, Russell actually leads the Lakers in time of possession with the ball in his hands four minutes per game. But the Lakers have five players handling the ball at least two minutes per game. By contrast, the Nuggets have just three. So Mudiay's average time and dribbles per touch are higher than Russell's.

As much as everyone wants to criticize Scott here, I think Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak deserves a greater share of the blame. The Lakers already had Clarkson and Bryant on the roster before drafting Russell, then went out and signed another guard who needs the ball in his hands (Lou Williams) plus a veteran point guard (Marcelo Huertas).

So this roster doesn't seem conducive at all to developing Russell if that's really the Lakers' goal. Is there a solution here in the short term?

Can the Lakers rebuild around Russell?

Ford: Patience, I guess -- which, ironically, the Lakers decided they didn't have when they passed on Porzingis. You're right in noticing that all the Lakers' perimeter players have high usage rates. They all need the ball in their hands.

That won't change for Bryant, Clarkson or Williams -- and we can't leave out Nick Young. That's the way they play, and there's very little Scott can do about it. The bigs on the Lakers don't stretch the floor, either. Assuming the Lakers really think Russell is the guy, then some of these guys need to be replaced by what would really complement Russell -- a few lights-out 3-point shooters.

Given what you've seen from Bryant, Clarkson, Williams and Young, should the Lakers (or can the Lakers) shake up the roster to get Russell going? Not sure Williams or Young have much value, Clarkson doesn't make any money and Kobe has a no-trade clause. What would you do?

Pelton: Despite what I just said, I do think a coaching change would help. Scott has consistently said that his focus is on winning games rather than developing players, and that doesn't make sense for a franchise that's going nowhere this season and needs its young prospects to break through to convince free agents to sign on.

Clarkson is part of that group, so the Lakers shouldn't move him. Kobe isn't going anywhere. And Young probably has no trade value. That leaves Williams, who came at a good price (three years, $21 million) and should be tradable if the Lakers can find a team in need of bench scoring.

Did the Lakers make a mistake in selecting Russell?

Ford: Given the situational qualifiers we spoke about, do you think the Lakers made the right choice by selecting Russell at No. 2?

While NBA folks had him rated No. 2 on my Big Board, I wrote the Lakers should've taken Porzingis in my Grade A Mock the week before the draft. Based on the very early returns, I'd stand by that -- especially given the Lakers' current personnel. Many of these situational issues would've gone away had they selected Porzingis.

Pelton: I think I'm inclined to agree. You mentioned in last week's discussion that Porzingis was underscouted, and that was certainly the case for me. Though Porzingis and Russell had nearly identical WARP projections, I rated Russell higher on my subjective rankings in part because I was more familiar with his strengths and how they would translate to the NBA than Porzingis' game.

I don't think Okafor or Mudiay would look much better in the Lakers' system than Russell. (Can you imagine Okafor as the last line of defense behind the L.A. guards?)

Porzingis, however, has shown he can be effective without the ball thanks to his size and offensive rebounding. Given that NBA performance tends to be more predictive than pre-draft projections, I would lean Porzingis over Russell if we redrafted today.

[FKAri]

Sincerely hoping for the actual link

Do I have to do everything around here?




Chad Ford: Three of the top four picks in the 2015 draft are off to terrific starts. Karl-Anthony Towns has been a double-double machine for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jahlil Okafor is averaging 20 PPG for the Philadelphia 76ers and Kristaps Porzingis is having a major impact on the New York Knicks. There's a lot to be excited about there.

But the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, Los Angeles Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell, is struggling a little. Lakers fans appear worried that their team either picked the wrong guy or doesn't know how to develop him. Coach Byron Scott and Kobe Bryant have gone out of their way to praise Porzingis.

Russell is getting decent minutes, though he often finds himself benched in the fourth quarter by Scott. But his numbers are shaky. He's averaging fewer than 10 PPG while shooting worse than 40 percent from the field and just 31 percent from 3-point range.

I know your projections loved Russell before the draft. NBA folks loved him too; he finished No. 2 on our Big Board. What's going wrong, Kevin?

Kevin Pelton: Here's the thing: I'm not sure that anything's really going all that wrong. For the most part, Russell's advanced stats are similar to what my college translations projected for him. In fact, he's shooting slightly better on 2-point attempts (45.5 percent) than his Ohio State performance suggested (43.4 percent).

Russell hasn't been as good overall because he's coming up short in a few key areas -- his 3-point percentage, as you mentioned (he was projected for 35.2 percent), his assist rate (5.0 per 100 team plays vs. a projected 6.0) and his free throw rate (3.5 percent of the plays he's used, as compared to a projected 6.8 percent).

I am concerned about the lack of free throws, which could limit Russell's upside. Overall, though, he isn't playing that poorly. I think Towns and Porzingis have been so good that it's creating unrealistic expectations for Russell.

Additionally, I think the tendency to reduce a player's production to highlights (whether on SportsCenter or on Twitter) means a player like Emmanuel Mudiay, who is making a lot of things happen but has a worse PER due to missed shots and turnovers, appears better than Russell, who has largely been in the background.

Ford: I believe we all think the 3-point shooting will come. He's not the first rookie who's taken a little while to adjust to the longer 3-point line in the NBA.

The assists can also be partially explained by the fact that Russell just doesn't have the ball in his hands to make those plays as often as he did at Ohio State. Jordan Clarkson is in the backcourt with him and shares the ballhandling duties. And then there's Bryant. While he doesn't dominate the ball the same way he once did, he's still the focal point of the offense in LA.

To what extent can we chalk up Russell's numbers to his situation? Would we be seeing him meet his projections if he had the ball more like Mudiay has in Denver? Or is he just not playing with the same confidence and aggressiveness that Mudiay is (for good and for bad)?

Pelton: That's the million-dollar question, right? Believe it or not, according to SportVU tracking on NBA.com/Stats, Russell actually leads the Lakers in time of possession with the ball in his hands four minutes per game. But the Lakers have five players handling the ball at least two minutes per game. By contrast, the Nuggets have just three. So Mudiay's average time and dribbles per touch are higher than Russell's.

As much as everyone wants to criticize Scott here, I think Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak deserves a greater share of the blame. The Lakers already had Clarkson and Bryant on the roster before drafting Russell, then went out and signed another guard who needs the ball in his hands (Lou Williams) plus a veteran point guard (Marcelo Huertas).

So this roster doesn't seem conducive at all to developing Russell if that's really the Lakers' goal. Is there a solution here in the short term?

Ford: Patience, I guess -- which, ironically, the Lakers decided they didn't have when they passed on Porzingis. You're right in noticing that all the Lakers' perimeter players have high usage rates. They all need the ball in their hands.

That won't change for Bryant, Clarkson or Williams -- and we can't leave out Nick Young. That's the way they play, and there's very little Scott can do about it. The bigs on the Lakers don't stretch the floor, either. Assuming the Lakers really think Russell is the guy, then some of these guys need to be replaced by what would really complement Russell -- a few lights-out 3-point shooters.

Given what you've seen from Bryant, Clarkson, Williams and Young, should the Lakers (or can the Lakers) shake up the roster to get Russell going? Not sure Williams or Young have much value, Clarkson doesn't make any money and Kobe has a no-trade clause. What would you do?

Pelton: Despite what I just said, I do think a coaching change would help. Scott has consistently said that his focus is on winning games rather than developing players, and that doesn't make sense for a franchise that's going nowhere this season and needs its young prospects to break through to convince free agents to sign on.

Clarkson is part of that group, so the Lakers shouldn't move him. Kobe isn't going anywhere. And Young probably has no trade value. That leaves Williams, who came at a good price (three years, $21 million) and should be tradable if the Lakers can find a team in need of bench scoring.

Did the Lakers make a mistake in selecting Russell?

Ford: Given the situational qualifiers we spoke about, do you think the Lakers made the right choice by selecting Russell at No. 2?

While NBA folks had him rated No. 2 on my Big Board, I wrote the Lakers should've taken Porzingis in my Grade A Mock the week before the draft. Based on the very early returns, I'd stand by that -- especially given the Lakers' current personnel. Many of these situational issues would've gone away had they selected Porzingis.

Pelton: I think I'm inclined to agree. You mentioned in last week's discussion that Porzingis was underscouted, and that was certainly the case for me. Though Porzingis and Russell had nearly identical WARP projections, I rated Russell higher on my subjective rankings in part because I was more familiar with his strengths and how they would translate to the NBA than Porzingis' game.

I don't think Okafor or Mudiay would look much better in the Lakers' system than Russell. (Can you imagine Okafor as the last line of defense behind the L.A. guards?)

Porzingis, however, has shown he can be effective without the ball thanks to his size and offensive rebounding. Given that NBA performance tends to be more predictive than pre-draft projections, I would lean Porzingis over Russell if we redrafted today.