“Can Play Freely”: Not Being a Laker Allowing D’Angelo Russell to Perform Better, Claims Byron Scott

It may be early in the NBA trade season, but there have been a few notable moves already. Perhaps the biggest is the trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets that sent D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to Brooklyn for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton two weeks ago. You can count former Lakers player and coach Byron Scott as someone who likes the trade for everyone involved.

Scott spoke about the deal on his Fast Break podcast. He first looked at it from the perspective of Russell, who is now in his second stint with Brooklyn after having been twice with the Lakers too. Scott believes that being on a team with lower expectations will help Russell, who struggled to be a consistent contributor with his former team.

“When you got that purple and gold on and you’re playing here in L.A., it’s a different pressure… I think for D’lo he can play freely there, there’s not going to be a lot of whispering going on when he has bad games like there was in L.A., so I think on both ends it probably was good for both parties to kind of part ways.”

Russell had an outstanding debut for the Nets with 22 points, his second-highest total of the season. But he’s missed the last four-and-a-half games after suffering a shin contusion against the 76ers nine days ago.

Russell aiming to get over being scapegoated during his time in L.A

The Nets are a bit of a mess right now, as seemingly half the team is injured. With a 13-26 record and no hope of making the playoffs, Brooklyn likely isn’t trying to win anyway. That would explain why they traded away Dennis Schroder in addition to the deal that sent Finney-Smith and Milton to the Lakers. Still, Scott is right that Russell could be given a new lease on life in Brooklyn.

It seemed that from the moment Russell signed a one-year extension this summer to stay with the Lakers, it would only be a matter of time until he was traded. He never seemed to click with new coach JJ Redick, and that was clear when he was sent to the bench in early November.

Whenever he recovers from his shin contusion, there should be ample playing time for Russell to prove himself, especially if the Nets continue to trade players away. Brooklyn may not win many games, but D’lo and Cam Thomas in the same backcourt would still be entertaining.