The Case For D’Angelo Russell
Of all the million or so things written about the Brooklyn Nets on the Nichey Niche (consider this the million and first), the one that sums up the Brooklyn Experiment best is probably this one, comparing the fate of the ongoing evolution of Sean Marks’ Nets thing with Sam Hinkie’s infamous Philly Process. A gradual shift versus an absolute tearing down of everything in sight. Renovation versus excavation. Evolution versus revolution.
Right now the 76ers are poised to strike and with a loaded roster of young stars they very well might. Joel Embiid is incredible and Ben Simmons is fast showing he can live up to the hype. Now imagine a prime Markelle Fultz as your third best player - it’s a super interesting team all of a sudden. Whether that makes the previous half decade of futility worth it or not is another argument.
Also another argument: whether injuries are gonna ruin it for them before it gets started. All three of those star rook/sophomores (sidebar: Ben Simmons shouldn’t be classed as a rookie when he’s spent a whole year training with NBA coaches, that’s stupid. Or at least he shouldn’t be eligible for Rookie of the Year, just like they ought take Blake Griffin’s one back too), anyway all three of those rooks/sophomores have had serious injury issues already. So did Nerlens Noel while he was there. Fultz can’t shoot free throws properly right now because of a shoulder injury (so why is he playing!?) while Embiid isn’t allowed to play back to back games. It’s a serious concern, to be honest. Somebody call a doctor.
But we’re not here to chat about the goddamned Sixers. We’re here for the Nets and the fascinating situation they’ve got going with D’Angelo Russell. When they traded for him from the Lakers they pulled off the best of many great heists by Sean Marks. The Lakers were hardly swindled, they cleared the runway for Lonzo Ball to land in LA while also getting rid of one of the worst contracts in the NBA in Timofey Mozgov. Not to mention a little Brook Lopez in return. But the Nets won bigger because they got the player, for better or for worse, who will come to define this era of the team. Their path back to contention.
In two seasons with the Lakers, Russell averaged 13.2 and then 15.6 points per game. His shooting stats were consistently around 40-41% from the field and 35% from deep but he bumped his free throw numbers up from year one to two and did the same with his assists as well. Solid development there from a former second overall draft pick.
However his Lakers tenure was always more about his maturity levels than his game. There was that situation with Nick Young, the cellphone vid. There were issues with his leadership and worries about his fit with some of the other young players on the team. It didn’t work with the Lakers and so the Nets put on their opportunistic hat and sent the ol’ “U Up?” text down the line.
Meanwhile the Nets rebuild has started from the ground up, as they all do. They refurbished the front office, hired a new coach and set about dealing away the players they had no use for and developing those that they did. A new style of play was introduced and their recruitment began to reflect this. Team culture became the biggest priority.
Which is funny considering a lot of that stuff is the same stuff that D’Angelo Russell struggled with for the Lakers. Plenty of people will have written him off for that but this is where the case for the defence now speaks.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a big deal, regardless of whether they’re winning games or not. That jersey comes with a legacy, an aura. Therefore it’s kinda easy to forget that D’Angelo was still a teenager when he turned up there. Not only that but his first season was Kobe Bryant’s last season, where the Mamba did his best to turn it on for the fans on his last trip round the track but that came at the expense of any thought of nurturing guys like Russell and Jerome Randle. Byron Scott’s not exactly known as a coach for young players either, which didn’t help. Seeing the pattern yet?
Then the snitching thing with Nick Young… sorry, but who was the one cheating on his fiancé? It wasn’t Yung Rusty, that’s for sure. Russell woulda hit up the Nets having already experienced the worst of what NBA celebrity has to offer and he got out alive on the other side, just. Some players need time and space to find themselves at the top level. In Brooklyn Russell will get every bit of help he needs – they have to invest in him now, they cashed in their two bargaining chips for him: Brook Lopez and Cap Space – plus there he’s shielded from the constant magnifying that Lonzo’s going through right now.
And the results so far have been pretty decent. These were his first four games for the Nets:
- at IND (L): 30 MINS | 30 PTS (12/22 FG, 4/8 3PT, 2/2 FT) | 3 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 2 TO
- vs ORL (W): 25 MINS | 17 PTS (8/16 FG, 0/3 3PT, 1/2 FT) | 3 REB | 6 AST | 3 STL | 8 TO
- vs ATL (W): 29 MINS | 16 PTS (6/13 FG, 1/3 3PT, 3/4 FT) | 7 REB | 10 AST | 1 STL | 4 TO
- at ORL (L): 30 MINS | 29 PTS (9/24 FG, 5/9 3PT, 7/8 FT) | 5 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 3 TO
At his best he’s already shown that he can hit those catch and shoot triples with that lovely left-handed action of his. He can hit them on the pull-up, in fact he can do most things off the dribble – from getting to the rim to score to finding teammates on the pass. The Nets have put some good shooters around him too, which always helps (DeMarre Carroll is 7/13 from deep in the last three games while Allen Crabbe made four in the win over Atlanta). In other words he’s proving he’s got all the tools a modern NBA point guard needs.
The consistency isn’t there, clearly, but that’s normal for a guy in his situation. There’s also been the odd issue with his turnovers too… then again that sometimes comes with the territory early in the season and Russell has this silky way of firing these beautiful late passes where he holds the ball that split second longer then whips it off his fingertips on the roll. The upside is absolutely there and if he’s able to score regularly in the variety of ways that he’s flexed so far then Marsky Marks has got himself a bargain. And don’t say this guy can’t be a leader either, mate.
Laying down the law in a fourth quarter timeout, baby
Plus remember that his job got a whole lot tougher after that first game when Jeremy Lin was ruled out for the season. That’s a massive blow for the Nets, who were considerably better when Jerry was in the line-up last season, and it pretty much took the safety net away from under D’Angelo. He has to run this show now.
D’Angelo Russell to Newsday: “You could easily be thrown into a situation in the league that doesn’t help yourself. I feel like this situation is perfect for me, a young guy in the league, trying to find myself, and I’m going to get a lot of opportunity here. So that’s all you can really ask for. I just want to make it home.”
The Nets’ mostly awful defence means that winning games this season requires some serious playmaking at the other end – they’ve given up 122 point per game through four whilst playing against the Pacers, Hawks and Magic (twice)… none of which are particularly strong teams these days. That easy schedule puts their 2-2 start into a bit of context. It does the same to Russell’s beginnings with the franchise. Yet while stats can be deceiving, the eyes don’t lie and D’Angelo Russell looks the goods in Brookie, amigo.
Hey you! Yeah you! Give us a hand, will ya please? Nothing much, just smack an ad or two for us so we can hit the old metrics and keep on pumping these things out for ya.