After struggling to win games in the first part of the season, last year, the Los Angeles Lakers took part in a three-team trade that brought D’Angelo Russell back to LA. A match made in heaven; it seemed as if D-Lo was the missing piece of the puzzle as the Lakers went on quite a run to bag the eighth seed in the Western Conference after his arrival. But despite helping the team to the Western Conference Finals, Russell was still baffled as to what else he could’ve done to help his team win.
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The Los Angeles Lakers traded away Russell Westbrook and a few other pieces to acquire D’Angelo Russell in a three-team trade, hours before last year’s trade deadline. And D-Lo managed to fit right in, helping the Lakers with their much-needed three-point shooting.
After settling back into the city, D’Lo made an appearance on the ‘PatBev Podcast’ and urged Patrick Beverley to tell him what else he could’ve done to help his team win.
“It ain’t talking about it bruh…Damn, bro. F**k I gotta do Pat. Ya want me to play point guard, I’ll play point guard. Ya want me to play shooting guard, what y’all want from me? I shoot 30 from three, 40 from three, what y’all want?”
After being traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Russell saw a slight bump in his scoring averages for the year, from 17.4 to 17.8. His rebound and assist averages too saw the same outcome. When breaking down his monthly progression, D-Lo averaged a 20.0 PPG for March, boasting 7.1 APG and 2.8 RPG during his first complete month with the Lakers.
A month before that, D’Angelo was averaging 17.5 points per game, grabbing 3.6 rebounds in every contest and dishing out an average of 5.1 assists per game. So, overall, Russell did have a good year with the Lakers, despite falling a bit short in the playoffs later on. It is understandable for the 6’3″ guard to be a bit hysterical while casts of doubt were being drawn over him back then.
A frustrated D’Angelo Russell seeking wisdom
There was no argument over the fact that D’Angelo Russell had an instant impact on the Lakers’ offense as soon as he took over the helm. He was a big help to the team specifically where they needed it the most, long-range shooting. However, even after turning out to be the spark plug that resulted in the Lakers’ late-season push last year, Russell’s name was subject to numerous trade rumors in the offseason.
But Los Angeles would be foolish to trade away D-Lo. Russell has been averaging 18.0 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 3.0 RPG on 59.6% true shooting. While his numbers may not jump out at first glance, it is his style of play on the court that makes much more of a difference.
Being a ball handler, Russell helps space the floor for star players like Anthony Davis and LeBron James to freely create their offense. He can completely take over games without the team’s stars, as we just saw a few nights ago, against the Bucks, where he erupted for 44 points.
Another bonus, he is the perfect substitution for the Lakers’ third-star role meanwhile, until Austin Reaves further develops into one in the future. So, by the looks of it, this year as well, D-Lo has been doing everything in his power to keep the team afloat, hoping to make another run for the NBA championship after coming so close last year.
