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I know it's too soon. Will the lakers regret picking him at #2 when they could have had Okafor, Porzingus, Hezonja, Mudiay, Winslow, and others. Russell is slow footed and not NBA athletic. He's got some skills like passing and he can shoot. But those are assets that are common in the league. He's going to take time and do the lakers have time like a few seasons for this guy to maybe be good. I see his ceiling at Andre Miller, which is not good for a #2 pick.

Of course they will, it was. Jim "Dolan 2.0" Buss special.

DAR is a small guard with clear limitations. Unless he magically turns into a nash/paul/steph kind kf player (wildly unlikely), he's just another small guard.

I'm crossing my fingers.

For actual Lakers fans:

Yes, I know Kupchak is the GM and it is entirely possible this isn't Buss' fault. You know you want to let me rip on him anyway, though...

Be more regretting not taking okafor

They will regret not taking Okafor or Porzingis, actually there will be a bunch of players better than Russell. But I do believe Russell will be good but not a game changer.

I think he will be a 17-8-5 career player

DarthDiggler69 wrote:They will regret not taking Okafor or Porzingis, actually there will be a bunch of players better than Russell. But I do believe Russell will be good but not a game changer.

I think he will be a 17-8-5 career player

He is not getting 5 rebounds a night.

tsherkin wrote:Of course they will, it was. Jim "Dolan 2.0" Buss special.

DAR is a small guard with clear limitations. Unless he magically turns into a nash/paul/steph kind kf player (wildly unlikely), he's just another small guard.

He's 6'5....hardly small.

Russell looks like a career poor percentage shooter who may get a few assists.

A future 6th man off the bench imo

senel wrote:I know it's too soon. Will the lakers regret picking him at #2 when they could have had Okafor, Porzingus, Hezonja, Mudiay, Winslow, and others. Russell is slow footed and not NBA athletic. He's got some skills like passing and he can shoot. But those are assets that are common in the league. He's going to take time and do the lakers have time like a few seasons for this guy to maybe be good. I see his ceiling at Andre Miller, which is not good for a #2 pick.

I saw a lot of him last year when he played at Ohio St. He's not slow, and he's plenty athletic. He's still only 19 yrs old, and his biggest problem is immaturity. Give him time.

Johnlac1 wrote:I saw a lot of him last year when he played at Ohio St. He's not slow, and he's plenty athletic. He's still only 19 yrs old, and his biggest problem is immaturity. Give him time.

He is small, he is slow, he is not athletic, he is VERY immature, and he has bad shooting mechanics.

(I have seen every Ohio State game with DAR and several from HS)

I think he'll be way better than what you see now, but Lakers will still regret picking him because Okafor will be that good

His court vision and quick release are not "Common in the NBA" skills. If you have doubts on him, look at how comfortable he looks when he negotiates pick and roll situations on offense, his calmness and composure are excellent for a 19 year old. He does have obvious limitations and needs to tighten his handle for the NBA level but its not regrettable pick by any means and certainly not this soon.

By the way, looking at OP's posting history, obvious intent is obvious.

Johnlac1 wrote:

senel wrote:I know it's too soon. Will the lakers regret picking him at #2 when they could have had Okafor, Porzingus, Hezonja, Mudiay, Winslow, and others. Russell is slow footed and not NBA athletic. He's got some skills like passing and he can shoot. But those are assets that are common in the league. He's going to take time and do the lakers have time like a few seasons for this guy to maybe be good. I see his ceiling at Andre Miller, which is not good for a #2 pick.

I saw a lot of him last year when he played at Ohio St. He's not slow, and he's plenty athletic. He's still only 19 yrs old, and his biggest problem is immaturity. Give him time.

I saw a lot of him as well. He didn't look slow and looked plenty athletic because the competition he was playing against. He played against big 10 competition which is very slow and unathletic. He is slow and not quick enough for the NBA. He also doesn't have the handle, so when you add his lack of quickness and lack of handle, that's a terrible combination he can't create his own shot. And he is very poor defensively. Lakers are definitely going to regret this pick, even if they wanted to go with a guard and not a big, they will regret not getting Mudiay

I still have hope for Russell, and I am a firm believer that if you are doubtful who to pick between a guard and a big man, you take the guard every time. Having said that, there was no doubt that Okafor was the #2 pick.

Buss Bust.

i don't have any strong opinions on D-Russell either way. I'm still torn on him

but what I never understood is passing on Okafor. it was just so bizarre. I think we live in the era with teams just overanalyzing things now.

2 games in...

gipper08 wrote:

Johnlac1 wrote:I saw a lot of him last year when he played at Ohio St. He's not slow, and he's plenty athletic. He's still only 19 yrs old, and his biggest problem is immaturity. Give him time.

He is small, he is slow, he is not athletic, he is VERY immature, and he has bad shooting mechanics.

(I have seen every Ohio State game with DAR and several from HS)

Explain to me how 6'5 is small. He's a bigger, better athlete they Trey Burke who might still be a decent starting pg in the league. Many rookies have problems with immaturity, plus he's playing on a team with a legendary, -ex-superstar who hogs the ball. His shooting mechanic problems are not as large as you're implying.

Even if he turns out to be a fairly solid player with a long career, they'll regret passing on some of the other players that got drafted later. They're probably already regretting their choice, though they'll never admit it publicly.