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With the exception of Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, and Kristaps Porzingis, the 2015 NBA Draft was largely a disappointing class devoid of players that one could truly label as franchise-altering superstars. And of those three, only one (Booker) has quickly wrapped up an extension with his team.
So maybe D'Angelo Russell shouldn't worry too much if the Brooklyn Nets remain non-committal at this point regarding an extension. According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, the Nets would prefer to see how he works out with the existing nucleus (as well as newcomers Kenneth Faried and Ed Davis) for another year before they decide if it really makes sense for them to commit to him (or this group) long term.
#Nets GM Sean Marks on prospect of extended D'Angelo Russell now: "For now we’re going to see how this group plays together, how it all unfolds…I'm not going to rule out anything…."
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) July 17, 2018
Fair play considering that the 22-year-old has only played 48 games for the franchise. It's an impressive batch of games, however, with “D-Lo” averaging 15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. While he shot rather poorly at 41 percent from the field and 32 percent from distance, he did his damage in just 25.2 minutes per game. With Jeremy Lin being shipped out, Russell is expected to take the lion's share of the minutes with Spencer Dinwiddie and a newly-acquired Shabazz Napier backing him up.
Nets general manager Sean Mark should be in no rush to offer an extension though, since barring a major explosion from their young point guard, they could always allow the rookie scale contract to run its course and have the former second overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers, go through the process of restricted free agency.
