Russell's Future Position

[ALL HAIL]

What will his position be? At his best, will he be a SG or PG, a guy who facilitates and runs the offense, or a guy who doesn't.

Does he become more Jeff Hornacek/Jamal Crawford or more Deron Williams/Terry Porter?

He's always reminded me of Jamal Crawford, so I vote SG.

[Slava]

This is a good topic, I believe he's naturally better as a SG with a pure distributor like Huertas playing alongside him but Walton thinks he can handle the ball, give it up in half court, run around screens and get open for scoring opportunities ala Curry so its going to be interesting to see how that works. I personally think a Rubio/Russell backcourt would be killer.

PS: warrenpeace, I'm telling you before hand I'll be keeping a pretty close watch on this thread, so best behave.

[iamworthy]

Ultimately I think Russell's progress as a SG is whats going to push Clarkson to the bench. So I guess Im saying his future position is SG. For it to work the lakers will need a pass first PG. Dunn would have worked so well. The funny thing is that Russells assist numbers will probably stay the same because he will probably make the extra pass. The PG will get the hockey assist and Russell will get the real assist. Russells ability to score will put pressure on the lakers to play him more as a SG.

[Kilroy]

I think his natural position is SG, but I think he doesn't quite have the athleticism to be a pure SG in the NBA. With his court vision and passing skills, the best position for the Lakers, that he could play would be the 1.
Frankly if he can't play the 1 at the NBA level, we're in a bind.

I think he could be a franchise defining player at the 1, and a solid, starting 2. But I think we as fans better hope he can pull off the move to PG.

[Tee212]

imo he plays nothing like jamal. dlo best asset is passing (why we picked him) he was limited as an offense last year with no speed/athleticism. he was avg creating his own shot and 3p shooting was good for a rook. hes just displaying what hes been working on all summer (getting stronger and scoring in the post) and he did just that. hes great for a combo guard like a manu.

[DEEP3CL]

In an era where position doesn't matter anymore other than for defensive purposes, I see D-Lo just being a guard...plain and simple. The game and how it's played today dictates that he has to have both skill sets of both positions. He has the passing of a point, and the shooting ability of a 2 guard. Defensively is where we need to worry about where he plays. At 6'5" his size dictates he guards 2"s, but 2's with supreme athleticism will bother D-Lo. Ultimately the days of peg-holing wing and backcourt players to a set position is pretty much over in terms of offense anyway.

[iamworthy]

In an era where position doesn't matter anymore other than for defensive purposes, I see D-Lo just being a guard...plain and simple. The game and how it's played today dictates that he has to have both skill sets of both positions. He has the passing of a point, and the shooting ability of a 2 guard. Defensively is where we need to worry about where he plays. At 6'5" his size dictates he guards 2"s, but 2's with supreme athleticism will bother D-Lo. Ultimately the days of peg-holing wing and backcourt players to a set position is pretty much over in terms of offense anyway.

This is a good point. My initial post I was going to say does it even matter. Does anyone really think Curry is a PG? But I didnt want to be that guy

[crazyeights]

I look at him as simply a lead guard. I want him to score and I want him to facilitate the offense. I could see him being a Harden-type player (plays mostly under the rim, crafty lefty scorer with nice play-making abilities), but with Luke as the coach, I'd have to imagine they'd use him as GSW does Curry, trying to balance running him off-ball with more traditional lead-guard duties. Hopefully he'll be part of the offense, and not the entire offense a la Harden. I think that will be a nice challenge for Luke.

I also think Luke might plan on playing Ingram some minutes at the 2, so I could see Russell playing the 1 along side him.

[Spens1]

thinking kobeish or a harden type s.g in the sense that they will have handling duties but will be more of a S.G than a distributor, in the same vein i see clarkson as a long term P.G for us

[Mirjalovic]

He's a PG

Warriors brought Jack/Iguodala to let Curry plays off the ball, but in the end Curry's point guard skills improved dramatically. Let Russell handle the rock and we will see


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[dAdo dA dEvil]

In our current rosters I see DLo and Clarkson being both starting guards. If it's a fast break or open court I want DLo to play the "point" because of his court vision and passing but in half court set I think Clarkson should play the "point" because he is more athletic and seems more stronger. Clarkson can drive and dish and DLo could be our spot up shooter in that kind of situation. Defensively, DLo should guard the PGs and Clarkson the SGs. Like I said Clarkson seems to be more stronger and athletic than DLo so it should be Clarkson guarding the bigger guard and DLo should make use of his size advantage against the smaller the guard.

[zuju]

Or Brandon Roy minus the injuries?
both relatively weak athletically, can shoot and attack with high BB IQ and great court vision

[SashaTheMachine]

It would be awesome for him to play a lot at the 1, due in part to what he's shown playing in the post this past summer league.

[chefy12]

i think hes a natural pg

[SlimShady83]

I think he suits better as SG he more of a spot up shooter.

I've been watching some Lakernation videos on Jordan Clarkson and seems like he has been working a tone on his ball handling skills and starting to feel he'll be the main PG with huertas coming in as back up - just IMO.

[Michael Lucky]

He's a lead guard (which most elite teams use at PG, which is all that matters. Cavs - Irving, GSW - Curry, OKC with Durant had Westbrook, Spurs had Parker.

At this point i don't want him to be a traditional PG, i don't think that would necessarily get us to a championship.

[dockingsched]

Point or shooting guard are pretty irrelevant labels. Curry for example gets a ton of off the ball plays called for him, if he were taller people would be fighting to label him a shooting guard. Kobe almost always was the primary ball handler and the guard next to him was always off the ball, but no one ever tried to force Kobe into the pg label.

If one is to label Russell, scoring pg would probably be best. His vision and passing is too good for him to ever truly be off the ball the majority of the time.

Coming into the draft last yr I saw him as a Brandon Roy type of player that would be better suited at sg, a year of watching him and he has lead guard qualities bursting with potential. Starting to really like the pairing with Clarkson cause both are so interchangeable.

[ALL HAIL]

Steve Smith is a decent comp for Russell as well. Although, It must be noted that Smith was a much more natural facilitator than Russell, and he, after many years of toiling at PG, eventually settled in at SG for his prime years ... I see Russell doing the same.

[ALL HAIL]

Even as simply a lead guard, Russell's ability to get his team into the offense seems off.

Using my eyes and seeing his difficulties in running an offense, mixed with the fact that he's never been the guy who brings the ball up the court 85% of the time (a PG), he looks more and more like a guy who, even as good as his passing may be, will become a Steve Smith type of off-ball shooter who can handle the rock some and occasionally make a spectacular pass.

[NYCLaker]

NBA doesn't have many pure pgs anymore.....

So, he fits in with this generation of a "PG."