The Lakers open their season vs. the Knicks today, and the dominant storyline is whether or not rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell will be in the starting lineup. Taken No. 2 overall in the 2015 Draft, Russell is one of three quality point guards on the Lakers roster.
Jordan Clarkson, 23, was one of the only bright spots for Los Angeles last season, averaging 11.9 points and 3.5 assists for one of the worst Lakers teams in the franchise’s history. His play made him worthy of a starting spot, but top-2 draft picks tend to play right away. With Kobe Bryant in the mix, that looks like one man has to ride the pine.
Brazilian PG Giving Russell A Hard Challenge
At the moment, Clarkson seems safe, and it is Russell battling with Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas for the starting job. Both are NBA rookies, but Huertas is a 32-year-old pro who spent the last four seasons at Barcelona. Scott had high praise for Huertas during the preseason.
"He's a true point guard in every sense of the word where he's looking to set his teammates up. I think you guys saw that in the 12 minutes where he had command of the offense, he was telling guys where to go, he was setting guys up and that's what I saw in training camp."
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Huertas seems more prepared at this stage to run an NBA offense than Russell, but Russell is the more explosive player, and also a much better rebounder. L.A.’s new center, Roy Hibbert, is a notoriously poor rebounder for his size (7’2), and second-year power forward Julius Randle is coming off a season-ending knee injury he suffered early last year.
Going small with Huertas, Clarkson and Bryant as the backcourt puts a ton of pressure on Randle to be a glass-eater, when he was taken primarily to be a source of low-post offense. The fairly obvious play is to roll the dice with Russell in the starting lineup, as long as he won’t malfunction.
“It’s really all based on his developing, it really has nothing to do with anything else. I’m trying to figure out what’s best for him right now. And obviously, what’s best for him is, in my mind, probably what’s best for the team as well,” Scott said of Russell starting.
Russell averaged just fewer than six rebounds as a freshman at Ohio State.
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