Lakers: D’Angelo Russell Still Has Room for Improvement

Comparing Him To Other Rookies

First, let me start off by saying I don’t think you can fairly compare a rookie point-guard to a rookie at any other position.

Mostly because learning how to run an NBA offense is an entirely different animal than just playing in one.

So when Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jahlil Okafor put up gaudy stat-lines, you can’t just compare those to what Russell is doing and say that the Lakers should have selected one of the other guys. Instead, consider the context.

What I mean is that yes, those guys are all putting up better numbers than Russell is right now but there are some perfectly valid reasons for that.

Besides the difference in positions, those guys are all really big, tall, or athletic — even by NBA standards.

That means that the rookies who are currently putting up the best stat lines are at least partially doing so because they can still dominate with their size or strength the same way they did in college.

D’Angelo is different.

He’s rare in that he’s considered an elite prospect for his vision and passing abilities, rather than for his athleticism.

So while D’Angelo is 14th amongst rookies in PER, he’s doing far better than fellow lottery pick and rookie point-guard, Emmanuel Mudiay — which is perhaps a better judge of his progress than anything else.

So where does D’Angelo rate amongst the rookies? It’s hard to say.

Right now he hasn’t had the immediate impact of Porzingis or Towns, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be just as good in the long-run.

Now it’s up to Russell to continue developing his game, and in the end only time will tell.