D’Angelo Russell shot 43% on above-the-break threes, which put him in the 95th percentile at his position. Meanwhile, he shot 69% at the rim, good for the 84th percentile. He has his flaws but he was incredibly important player for the Lakers last season
by oat38
29 Comments
Yes. Our record without him is pretty bad in the regular season. I get his track record in the playoffs isn’t great, but I don’t understand the hate for him. In this price range, he’s a good contract and a great role player on this team.
I would only trade him if it’s a true upgrade for the team. Definitely wouldn’t throw him just for a lateral move.
Of course he was. He was the 3rd best player in the regular season. Against the Nuggets, he played considerably better than he had last year even with a dud in game 3 and mediocre showings in games 1 and 5. The problem was we didn’t get last year’s Reaves/Rui in the playoffs, and we couldn’t beat the Nuggets on the margins
No one says he isn’t a good player in the regular season. The issue is that he is an absolute no show in the playoffs. In the last 3 seasons with the Lakers the dude is shooting 39% from the floor and 32% from 3 in the playoffs. Those are big drops offs especially for a guy that is a defensive liability
Yes. Need two way players tho. Need to see effort, activity, and intelligence on defense.
He just needs to show up in the play offs
He just can’t handle the physicality of the playoffs. His stats suffer for it.
Both he and Reaves are good, but the duo as a starting back court won’t win championships.
Something has to give.
He was the 3rd most important player which is why it hurt hard when he couldn’t get it going against the Nuggets. It might be a little better without KCP hounding him.
I think he just doesn’t handle physicality as well, so guys like KCP can really give him problems. I think if he was stronger it would translate to his playoffs as well.
Season dlo is pretty okay but idgaf. We need players that elevate during the playoffs, not fold.
Bottom line is that based on the current CBA, DLo being on the team this season is a straight up blessing
Trading him would be a mistake. You won’t find another guard in the market as good as him. Rui, gabe, wood, and reddish all can go.
The only thing D’lo can’t do is play POA defense against speed. He’s solid in passing lanes and holds up against bigger wings (not PF/Cs).
Unfortunately that’s basically AR’s scouting report too. You have to pair either of them with a more stout primary defender to have a balanced backcourt.
Hopefully JJ figures out what Ham never could and rotates Vando, Max or even Reddish in as the primary POA defender and let’s D’lo & AR focus on more of a team defensive assignment.
What’s his shot percentage in the playoffs?
Too bad his defense is nonexistent and he’s one of the least athletic people in the NBA who shrinks every playoffs
We’re not doing this again
Lakers fans: “Shooting curse 😢”
Dlo: literally breaks a franchise record for made 3s in a season
Lakers fans: “He sucks trade him 😠”
And then was trash in the playoffs AGAIN.
In any case, he is all we got. We have to somehow make it work with him on the roster …
Anyone who thinks we’re getting someone better than D’lo for $18MM is out of touch. He has many flaws, but we signed a core of D’lo, AR15, Rui, & Vando to support our two stars and they all played like trash in playoffs (or were hurt in Vando’s case), then had a coach overplay vet min guys.
Losing Game 2 and his terrible performance and attitude in Game 3 basically undid most of the good will he earned last season. At least he opted in
Better than half the 🤡 that this subreddit wants to trade him for.
Raises the floor, lowers the ceiling. We’ve known this.
I just can’t get over game 3 man
The option is to trade D Lo while he has an attractive expiring contract or once again lose him for nothing.
I’d wager a lot that the Lakers will not sign him long term past this year or match any other offers. Which this offseason seemed to be non existent. Like he had zero offers from other teams hence why he opted into a not ideal situation where he has to deal with trade rumors daily.
Why do we have posts everyday praising a player literally every NBA team doesn’t want.
He just doesn’t have that dog in him
I agree. I just don’t know what to do about his pairing with Reaves – it’s pretty defensively untenable in the starting lineup. Sending Reaves to the bench feels wrong, too. If Vando is healthy maybe he and AD together can cover for dlo and austin when they’re all on the floor together. But it still feels like a losing lineup with three one-way players given the talent in the west.
Whenever DLo played well and scored above 20 ppg, we were close to undefeatable. He really is a perfect complimentary player for AD/LeBron. If he just was consistent in the playoffs, he would be an elite all star.
Lol what is this cope like of course he was important when he showed in the regular season. We know what he is…and that’s an effective shooter and passer in the regular season and a person who plays worse when the defense gets tighter in the post season. Nothing we have seen should alter that perception. He likely won’t become less of a liability on defense and won’t be seen as a playoff performer until he shows he can not be stymied at the highest level