How the Lakers Handle the D'Angelo Russell Saga Could Determine Their Relevancy for the Next Decade

Let me start off by disclosing the fact that I am a completely neutral Knicks fan living here in Los Angeles, CA — being a resident, I want the Los Angeles Lakers to do well not only because this city is more fun when they’re winning, but, I am a passionate fan of the association and truly believe the NBA product is better when the Lakers are good.

I moved to Los Angeles in 2012, and since then — the Lakers have been a laughing stock of the league. Even when they assembled their Kobe/Nash/Dwight/Pau/Metta World Peace “Super Team” during the 2012-2013 campaign, they barely squeaked into the playoffs and got absolutely EMBARRASSED by the San Antonio Spurs via a 4-0 first round series sweep. Put it this way: if we’re talking about NBA Champion contenders: the Lakers are irrelevant, have been irrelevant since 2010, and will continue to be irrelevant for the forseeable future.

Where the Lakers are not irrelevant is within the metropolis of this beautiful concrete paradise. Even though they’ve fielded a roster the past three seasons that even the Washington Generals think they can beat, the fans’ loyalty is as strong as ever — showing up to STAPLES Center in DROVES to watch their crappy team play.

2016

2015

2014

2013

The Lakers aren’t just a popular pro sports franchise located in the nation’s second-biggest city, they are religion. While everyone on this planet has a friend who “LOVES THE LAKERS” but always seems to go quiet when things go south, I think I speak for everyone when I say a majority of the purple & gold supporters here have a strong knowledge of the game of basketball, and even those who don’t — are very-much in-tune with the status of the team at all times.

Laments terms: these fans are not stupid.

The fans haven’t rioted yet because it’s obvious a rebuilding phase is currently taking place. Despite multiple attempts to sign major free agents the past couple of Summers (Kevin Love, Carmelo, LaMarcus Aldridge, etc.), the Lakers ultimately whiffed. That’s not the end of the world though, because in the NBA: you want to be at one end of the spectrum — either really good (championships) or really bad (good draft picks). Mediocrity is a death sentence in this league unless your team’s goals are to hang “Made the First Round of the Playoffs!” banners in the rafters, and needless to say: the one thing the Lakers have done right is suck worse than everyone not named the 76ers.

The compensation for their incompetence on the court has been fruitful: the franchise has scored stud young talent in Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and most importantly: D’Angelo Russell.

In addition: the Lakers’ ability to participate in the Ben Simmons “Once In A Lifetime Player” Draft Lottery this Summer relies on them having a poor enough record so they can produce enough ping pong balls to secure a Top 3 pick, otherwise, they lose it and it goes to Philadelphia.

The point i’m trying to make here is that everyone in Los Angeles knows the Lakers are tanking, and they’re cool with it as long as there’s initiative towards building a team ASAP with championship aspirations.

I’m sure the Buss family, Mitch Kupchak, Byron Scott, and all the front office brass have the best intentions in the world, but, their actions as of late are single-handily keeping this franchise from long term greatness.

Let me explain…

If we re-did the 2015 NBA Draft right now based on performance this season AND potential, what would the first 5 picks look like? Here’s my guess:

1. Kristaps Porzingis
2. Karl Anthony Towns
3. Jahlil Okafor
4. Justise Winslow
5. Bobby Portis

Missing from this list is the basketball-equivalent Daenerys Targaryen dragon egg of Los Angeles: D'Angelo Russell.

You’re kidding yourself if you think Lakers fans aren’t on tilt every time they see one of Kristaps Porzingis’ YouTube dunks or Jahlil Okafor’s silky smooth yet dominating post game moves — thinking that could have been theirs at the #2 pick.

Long story short: Despite flashes of brilliance, D’Angelo hasn’t performed (thus far) to the level of the five players in the list above. This by no means says he’s a bust or that he doesn’t have the potential to be the best pick from this draft in the long run, but, watching him drown in Byron Scott’s substitution patterns has been nothing short of infuriating.

D’Angelo currently:

• Has the 2nd worst team net rating (-18), ahead of only Kobe Bryant.
• Has committed 28 turnovers in his last 10 games (23 in the 10 before that) vs. 16 in his first 10.
• Is the only Laker regular with negative win shares (-0.3) not named Kobe Bryant (-1.1)
• Has the second highest usage rate on the entire roster

You can even go as far as saying that the team’s record directly correlates to his performance — as D’Angelo has a net rating of (+1) in the team’s wins, and in the team’s losses: (-24)!!!!!!!

Nowadays you can find a damning stat for just about anybody in the NBA, and a lot of these poor numbers could be because he’s playing with a teammate who is taking a victory lap around the league jacking up a thousand horrible shots per game — so, I’m not ready to unload my “D’Angelo is gonna be awesome” stock because the numbers are supporting the “he’s struggling” eye test.

What concerns me is that the Lakers front office, through the voice of the media, is going out of their way to prioritize Kobe’s goodbye over D’Angelo’s progress.

“Under normal circumstances [in a season like this], at some point, you would probably concentrate on just developing all your young players,” Kupchak told ESPN in a recent interview. “But we can’t do that right now.”

Furthermore:

"“This [season] is really a justified farewell to perhaps the best player in franchise history. And, God willing, he’s going to want to play every game and he’s going to want to play a lot of minutes in every game, because that’s just the way he is. And as long as that continues, which it should, then that’s 30-35 minutes that you might give to a young player that you can’t. How do you get a feel for your team going forward when you know that your best player is not going to be there next year? So it’s really hard to go forward until he’s no longer here. That’s not a bad thing. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all. It’s something that I think is a good thing. In some regards, there’s a silver lining. Our younger players can make mistakes and it can kind of go under the radar because Kobe garnishes so much attention. Every game, it’s about Kobe. Even when he doesn’t play, it’s about Kobe. So in a lot of regards, there’s a silver lining that our guys can develop under the radar and maybe make a mistake or make two mistakes and it not be a big deal.”"

When the Bulls took the Lakers to the woodshed on National TV this past Thursday night, we learned via TNT’s David Aldridge that this philosophy has trickled down to the coaching staff — and D’Angelo feels like “he’s just lost”

"“One thing that D’Angelo Russell said this morning, I thought was very telling is that he literally does not know what questions to ask Byron Scott about how to get better. I mean, he wants to get better, he knows he makes mistakes, but he is so young at age 19… He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. In terms of getting better as an NBA point guard, he’s just lost.”"

Does this sound like a coach who is motivated to help his young rookie develop?

Nope.

D’Angelo, your thoughts?

Who’s right and who’s wrong is not for us to judge — myself and 99.9% of the people reading this have neither nor will ever play/coach in the NBA, and even though he may have the single worst coaching record in franchise history … Byron Scott has decades of experience doing both and is better suited for the job than any of us.

But that’s not the point of this, Byron, and it’s not why these passionate LA fans are angry with you.

They’re upset because you (and the front office) have made it clear that there is an agenda of humbling the team’s most important player, who is supposed to be the long term cornerstone of the franchise’s foundation, instead of letting him get valuable game experience.

They’re upset because D’Angelo Russell is the best prospect the Lakers have had in a decade, and EVERY. SINGLE. GAME. it feels like he’s being held back because of petty drama.

They’re upset because the progress of D’Angelo Russell’s development (or lack-thereof) could potentially sway/deter soon-to-be-free-agents Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook to sign with/disregard the Lakers.

What are the executives afraid of? Winning? Do they really think D’Angelo playing 35 minutes a game with this atrocity of a roster is going to hurt their chances of retaining this year’s protected draft pick?

Maybe what Byron is doing is in D’Angelo’s best interest and we don’t know it yet, but, that is really hard to believe when the general manager says TO THE MEDIA that Kobe’s victory tour takes precedence over developing young talent.

Since these comments from Kupchak and the locker room subtweet war between Russell/Scott on January 27th, things have smoothed over a bit — after a competitive loss on Friday vs. the inner-city rival Clippers, D’Angelo told Mark Medina of The L.A. Daily News

"“Don’t take plays off on the defensive end. On the offensive end, don’t be nonchalant … No player in this league is nonchalant. They might be really really good and they look like they’re playing nonchalant. But they’re not. I tend to be nonchalant at times. I’m trying to get that out of this system … LeBron gets criticized. Jesus still gets criticized.”"

And Byron Scott responded:

"“That’s relatively new for him to self-check himself and look in the mirror sometimes … That’s a big key of growing up as a basketball player.”"

And soon enough…

So here we are, all quiet on the western front…

Priorities appear to have been straightened out, egos have been checked at the door, and there is a vision moving forward that entails D’Angelo and the Lakers’ core four including Clarkson, Randle, and Nance Jr.

You guys think it will it last?

NOPE.

After Sunday night’s embarrassing 19-point loss at home to the lowly, injury-riddled Charlotte Hornets — ending with the Laker faithful in attendance boo’ing their team off the court — we’re officially back to square one.

Let this be a voice of reason and act as a warning to all Lakers front office executives: this fan base is aware of Scott’s notorious coaching strategies throughout his career that stunt the growth of his rookies, knows about the drama in the locker room, and is not patiently waiting anymore to start winning. Kobe’s goodbye tour will certainly keep everyone’s championship thirst quenched for the remainder of this season, but, as soon as The Mamba walks off the floor for the final time: Byron Scott better be right behind him…

…or else fans WILL stop showing up to home games…

…they WILL stop obsessively-consuming the product…

…and this historically-great franchise WILL no longer be known for its championship pedigree — but instead: for how they messed up the next great Laker.