Written by Ben Golliver at SI.com
D’Angelo Russell just went from point guard of the future to salary-dump facilitator in two years flat.
In June 2015, the No. 2 overall pick was pitched as a possible heir apparent to Kobe Bryant, a flashy scoring guard who would drive the Lakers’ rebuild. On Tuesday, Russell was sacrificed by L.A.’s new front-office regime to shed one of the NBA’s worst contracts.
The Lakers have reportedly agreed to trade Russell and center Timofey Mozgov to the Nets in exchange for center Brook Lopez and the No. 27 pick in Thursday’s draft. L.A.’s motivation in this deal is primarily financial: Mozgov is owed $48 million over the next three years while Lopez will make $22.6 million next season in the final year of his contract, an exchange that will give the Lakers significantly more salary cap room next summer when LeBron James, Paul George and other marquee stars enter free agency.
Let’s grade the trade.
Los Angeles Lakers: B–
Russell’s two-year tenure in L.A. should live forever in the “How Not To Develop A Top Prospect” Hall of Fame. Arriving in Hollywood at age 19, Russell was stuck playing for a coach (Byron Scott) who didn’t trust him and alongside a legend (Bryant) who had little time for him. As a result, the “highlight” of his rookie year was his release of a locker room-fracturing tape of teammate Nick Young discussing private matters. In Year Two, Russell got a new coach (Luke Walton) and was freed from Bryant, but he failed to show much progress on the court as questions about his maturity continued to dog him.
While he showed flashes of the scoring and playmaking skills that made him a top pick out of Ohio State, Russell (15.6 PPG, 4.8 APG) also proved to be a streaky shooter, a mediocre offense-initiator, and a consistently abysmal defender, posting an atrocious 113.4 defensive rating for a Lakers team that ranked dead last in defensive efficiency. Down the stretch off his second season, Russell was benched and then shifted off the ball, raising questions about his role next season. If the Lakers draft UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball at No. 2, as expected, how would a Ball/Russell backcourt ever score enough to make up for their porous defense? And, would Russell be able to reach his ceiling as a playmaker if Ball was running the show at the point?
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