Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell finally exploded Thursday night, scoring 27 points on the Kings, with most of them coming in the fourth quarter. Until Thursday night, Russell was hardly used in fourth quarters; his success may have been what the Lakers were afraid of.
Earlier this week Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak bizarrely admitted that the team is hitting the pause button on the development of their young players in order to give retiring guard Kobe Bryant an extended farewell. What Kupchak likely wishes he could admit is that the team doesn’t want to succeed this year, because if they do they have no shot at drafting LSU prospect Ben Simmons.
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Byron Scott’s refusal to play Russell ahead of veteran guard Lou Williams, or even ahead of Bryant on most nights, makes little to no basketball sense. The Lakers are mired in their worst season ever, and once Bryant is gone Russell will have to lead the way. His potential was obvious Thursday night, when he shot 11-of-16 from the field. But Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle are unlikely to be a championship-winning corps.
L.A. is hoping to land a major-impact player this year that they can use as bait to lure a major free agent, the biggest possible name being Kevin Durant. If Russell plays too well, and the Lakers don’t snag a top-3 pick, they have to surrender it to the 76ers.
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The Lakers think Russell has superstar potential, or they wouldn’t have drafted him with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 Draft, but they would rather pair him with Simmons (averaging 20.1 points, 12.9 rebounds) than win an extra handful of games this year. If Russell forces his way to crunch time minutes, his success will be bittersweet.
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