D'Angelo Russell's slowly improving play is making the Lakers' NBA draft night less egregious.
And while executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss, general manager Mitch Kupchak and coach Byron Scott still deserve criticism for failing to pair Kobe Bryant with center Kristaps Porzingis, they do deserve credit for another draft failure.
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Failing to pair Kobe with Jahlil Okafor.
The Sixers' rookie center, who in 2014-15 led Duke to the national championship, was the player most NBA draft analysts -- and Laker fans -- expected and assumed Los Angeles management to draft.
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He, too, was deemed more NBA-ready than Russell and would've formed, according to popular opinion, a better win-now opportunity for the Lakers. But his presence with the 76ers has proven it not to be the case. His off-the-court issues this month have shown the Lakers to be prudent in passing on the 6-11 man-child.
So far, Okafor has used a fake ID to try to enter a nightclub in October, was cited by the Delaware River Port Authority for reckless driving and speeding for traveling 108 mph on the Ben Franklin Bridge, got into a physical altercation outside a Boston nightclub and had a gun pointed at him in the Philadelphia suburb of Old City in early October, according to CSNPhilly.com.
"Taken in total, there are concerns about what kind of culture the Sixers are fostering and about the attendant supervision of their players," CSNPhilly.com reported. "It's certainly not unusual for professional athletes to go out together, but the Sixers have the youngest roster in the NBA. One league executive said 'a couple of [veterans]' would help 'off the court.' He also called the Sixers 'a joke to the entire league.'"
Okafor hasn't exactly helped the 76ers on the court, either, although he does lead the team with 17.5 points per game with 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Philadelphia is 0-18, with -- you guessed it -- the woeful Lakers (2-13) coming to town on Tuesday. The oddsmakers initially listed the game as a toss-up, but because it's Bryant's first game since he publicly addressed his retirement and it's in his hometown, the Lakers were listed as a 1.5-point favorite.
Bryant should be heavily motivated, as should Russell, who still is trying to prove himself to be a better pick for Los Angeles than Okafor would've been.
The Lakers are a mess, but at least that mess is confined to the court. The same cannot be said for Okafor.
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