Lakers News: Ascendant D'Angelo Russell Ponders His Two LA Tenures
When the Los Angeles Lakers selected the young shooting guard out of Ohio State with the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, many fans expected to see him doing what he's doing right now. That is playing a key role on an LA squad that has all the momentum to bring home a championship.
However, it was never initially in the cards for D'Angelo Russell to suit up for three other teams before he was finally in the postseason with the Lakers. This type of success in his career has been long overdue and for the first time in his eight years in the NBA, he will be playing in the Conference Finals.
The Lakers were able to build themselves quite the versatile squad at the trade deadline and now they have seen Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Lonnie Walker all naturally gravitate towards scoring roles. LeBron James and Anthony Davis can finally trust in their group to get the ball in the basket without them having to do so.
But anybody that tunes into games knows that the exciting, showtime-like pace they're playing at right now starts with D-Lo. His averages of 14 points and four assists against the Golden State Warriors in round two were nothing crazy but he seamlessly hunted his midrange when LA's offense was stagnant and made the early pass on fast breaks.
Russell will hit unrestricted free agency this summer and has the option to go to any team he wants but he is clearly making a case why the purple and gold should lock him up as their point guard of their future.
He recently reflected on his two very different stints with the Lakers.
"I'm prepared for whatever's next," said Russell. "I feel like I was prepared for this situation, prepared for this opportunity mentally now. Obviously getting traded and things like that, you've got to re-adjust your focus. Going through what I've went through in my short time as a pro prepared me for almost everything."
(Via NBA TV)
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