Lakers: D’Angelo Russell Still Has Room for Improvement

When the Lakers made D’Angelo Russell the 2nd pick in the 2015 NBA draft, many pundits — including myself — were surprised.

Most of the pre-draft media debate had focused on which of Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor would be left for the Lakers to select.

Yes, there were those who pointed to the advanced statistical projections that said D’Angelo Russell had the best shot at becoming an NBA superstar.

However, they were often drowned out by those who correctly noted that the exact same stats also suggested Russell might instead have the greatest likelihood amongst players in the lottery of becoming an NBA bust.

So, who was right?

Obviously, it’s way too early to say anything with much level of certainty. However, I think we can safely say that D’Angelo Russell won’t be an NBA bust.

Here’s why.

First and foremost, he’s currently sitting at a 12.8 PER.

PER, which was created by John Hollinger for ESPN, is a statistical measurement that adds together all of a players positive accomplishments, subtracts his negative accomplishments, and then returns a per-minute rating of that player’s performance.

The league average for PER is 15.0, so although D’Angelo Russell isn’t quiet a replacement level point-guard, he’s very close to it.

To put that in even more perspective, last year’s NBA Finals MVP, Andre Iguodala, has a 13.8 PER.

In other words, Russell is doing just fine for a 19 year-old rookie.

Furthermore, according to basketball-reference.com, among all teenage guards who  have ever averaged at least 20 minutes per game, D’Angelo Russell actually has the fourth-highest PER ever.

If the season ended today, his 12.8 would be better than the likes of teenage Tony Parker, Jrue Holiday, and recent draftees Emmanuel Mudiay and Dante Exum.

What I hope I’ve conveyed to you by now is that D’Angelo Russell is definitely not going to be a bust.

However, there are some areas he can still improve on over the rest of this season and especially during the off-season.

Doing so will help him close what many believe is a gap between himself and the rest of the class of 2015’s top four draftees.

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