Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton was nothing but complimentary of Brooklyn Nets point guard D'Angelo Russell prior to Friday's contest between the two clubs, saying via Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times:
“You don’t want to say that a young player isn’t going to be able to do things,” Walton said Thursday. “I think D’Angelo was the No. 2 pick because he’s got an incredible skill set when it comes to playing this game. So, he’s definitely sharpened those skills.
“He looks like he’s really getting comfortable with the angles and whether it’s finishing at the rim or finding his big man roaming, feels like in watching him — like I talk about with Brandon [Ingram] a lot — the game is starting to slow down for him a little bit. It feels like the same thing is going on for D’Angelo right now.”
Russell and the Lakers have a long history with one another, with L.A. having selected the former Ohio State standout with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Russell started 108 of the 143 games that he appeared in with the Lakers, before he was traded to the Nets in order to pave the way for Lonzo Ball to take over as the organization's new point guard of the future.
This season saw Russell make the All-Star team for the first time in his career, having improved his scoring average to 20.7 points per game. His scoring increase is one of many categories that he remains on pace to set new career bests in during the 2018-19 year, including assists per game (6.9) and field-goal percentage (43.2 percent).
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