The early verdicts on the NBA 2015 Draft are coming, and the Lakers have the most glaring failing grade.
Three of the top four picks of this season's draft are all playing well. Karl-Anthony Towns has been a double-double machine. Jahlil Okafor is averaging 20 points per game and probably the first cornerstone for the Philadelphia 76ers and Kristaps Porzingis, from being booed on draft night is now the toast of Madison Square Garden.
The one missing is D'Angelo Rusell, the rookie tasked with bringing Showtime back to LA. "Showtime" ended up being No-Time as Lakers coach Byron Scott has him relegated on reserve duty.
ESPN experts Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton discussed the Russell-Lakers situation with hard questions.
Is Russell underachieving? Pelton says "no" because his statistical projections for him are not entirely off the mark. Except for three point percentage, assist rate and free throw rate, he's not subpar. Unfortunately, those are the fields where he's expected to excel.
Ford reasons that the assist rate is low because Jordan Clarkson also plays point sometimes and Kobe Bryant also creates.
Are the Lakers hindering his development? Pelton notes that it's easy to blame Byron Scott, but he would rather blame GM Mitch Kupchak for choosing Russell when they also wanted to develop Clarkson and allot minutes to a returning Kobe. (Perhaps they were looking towards the post-Kobe retirement era)
On that note, was choosing Rusell a mistake and who should the Lakers have taken?
Ford mentions that based on statistical projections, Russell was indeed no.2 but he personally recommended that the Lakers pick Kristaps Porzingis. He notes that the Latvian forward was "underscouted." Whose fault was that?
Pelton notes that even choosing Okafor or Emmanuel Mudiay would not have been promising. Mudiay would have the same playing time and ball possession problems as Russell has now. Okafor would struggle as the last line of defense (if LA picked him, they probably wouldn't have traded for Roy Hibbert).
Hoops Habit admonished Laker fans to be patient. They note that last year's MVP contenders, both Stephen Curry and James Harden, had similar stats to Russell in their rookie years.
Curry didn't have too many possessions with Monta Ellis around and Harden played behind Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Perhaps, when Kobe retires and the backcourt duo of Russell and Clarkson will have more defined roles, the NBA can see just how good D'Angelo Russell can be.