[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 It’s amazing how quickly things can move in the NBA. Only 2 years ago, while most people were initially sold on the fact that the Lakers should take okafor with the second pick, I was one of the first to argue that the Lakers should take Russell instead. I loved his potential and was excited when we actually took him. I thought we had a franchise cornerstone. Now, 2 years later he is out the door.

Make no mistake, the trade the Lakers made was not necessarily about Russell. It was about dumping mozgovs horrific contract and preserving extra cap space to sign Paul George and potentially another big name free agent. Russell just happened to be a casualty in the deal, one they probably would have preferred to keep. However, it does represent them essentially giving up on Russell. If they still believed he had the potential to develop into the type of player they initially projected, they never would have made this deal.

Russell’s tenure in Los Angeles will not be remembered fondly. He showed flashes of potential but didn’t really develop the way the team hoped. He had issues with coaches, and teammates and the team suffered through the worst 2 year stretch in history. I thought he would really flourish under Walton this season after being put in a tough situation his rookie year between kobe’s farewell tour and Byron Scott’s awful coaching. However, his improvement was only modest at best and he never really showed enough to make you feel comfortable giving him the keys to the offense.

With that being said, going to Brooklyn may be a huge blessing in disguise for Russell. Without much opportunity to acquire high level young talent through the draft, the team will no doubt be building around him. He will be given the keys to the offense from day one, and they play a style that should suit his skill set extremely well. If he wants to be the guy, he is going to get his chance now. It’s up to him to prove he can do it.

 

 

 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 It’s a blessing for Russell, he’s not a westcoast PG, he’s eastcoast. Less pressure with BK as well. Hopefully this will humble him and make him work harder. 

[thetrademachineryParticipant]

 i believe he can, nets are at least watchable now. 

If they draft someone noticable like giles or anigbogu and that pick plays to their potential, this will be an extremely successful build up. I am rooting for it.

And nets are playable in 2k now, not home court though.

 

 

 

 

 

[thetrademachineryParticipant]

One thing need to be mentioned, Magic did troll celtics with this trade. Celtics holding next year picks for nets and lakers and this trade will probably boost both teams wins.

[jefriederParticipant]

 Not a nets fan, but they now have 3 decent prospects on the perimeter in Russell, LeVert, and Hollis-Jefferson. Russell and LeVert should compliment each other with their ball handling and RHJ will gaurd anyone Russell is too lazy to gaurd. If they can get a player who falls in the draft, they really could start building a decent core to grow with. If Giles falls to the nets, its the basketball gods will lol. 

[Taylor Gang MikeParticipant]

 He Will put up good numbers

[nill650Participant]

 to much pressure in LA I guess? not sure why he was not utilized to his potential. Hopefully for the Nets this is a step up out of bottom feeder status.

I blame LA for not grooming him correctly, they got what they deserved and did it too themselves.

LA still thinks it is the premier landing spot for FA.

It has not been relevant for awhile. LA the city sucks compared to days gone by.some might consider the smog better than snow,the chaos,high population buzz & edgy racism divide more invigorating atmosphere than quiet boring diners and drivethrus of the midwest… but at the end of the day most players who go there realize it is no place to raise a family no place can ever meet up to the expectations you are sold on either. So the only question is, how much impact on the roots of the fanbase can you have living in your own bubble in the gated communities and rich suburbs. 

Nets are still 3-4 years away from being a 8th seed without getting a marquee fa or 2. He will likely be gone by then if they don’t get at least 1 to come there after next season. 

 

[Kwame33Participant]

 Lol this sounds more like a personal gripe against the city of LA than it is a general one. It may not currently be a premier landing spot for FA’s, but if a perennial all star declares he wants to join your team, it’s probably safe to start clearing cap space for said player.

[nill650Participant]

 Not just LA every damn metropolis on the planet is like that anymore…

your’e either rich or dirt poor with very little middle ground it’s not ideal place to live imo. no matter side your’e on

but yeah I get the clearing cap, but it was not necessary right now if PG13 is the target. Maybe they want to trade for him and hope to sign yet a another FA this yr. then it makes more sense. Otherwise I guess they didn’t see anything in Dlo worth keeping, hopefully he makes them regret it in the long run

[MatosParticipant]

 Excellent trade for the Nets. Cap space is their main trading chip. They’re making great attempts at bouncing back from the worst trade ever a few years ago.

[MopgrassParticipant]

 His statistics for his 1st two years were in line with the 1st two years of the best PG’s in the league. I think since he was a Laker and the Swaggy incident, everyone wants to discredit him. I think the only legitimate concern was his work ethic. He’d been improving, but was he working hard enough to keep improving? I think that’s the only knock on him as a ball player. I bet if they could have gotten Fultz, a much better defender than Ball, Russell would have stayed. Sometimes I think Jim Bus was trying to sabotage the team with Mozgov and Deng. Now… do they flip López? 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Kinda can’t wait to see the indie/underground/cult classic Brooklyn backcourt of D’Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin aka ALT NETS.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

 Russell, Levert and Rondae is DOPE

[XYRYXParticipant]

I agree that an new situation is what might do wonders for him. To be honest I didn’t see that coming especially not as kind of a throw in in a trade like this. Crazy to see what is trade value is now and also if you think about Okafor who is also on the block or at least available. 

The Nets finall cut ties with Lopez and got a very young and talented player in return. Kudos for this trade Mr. Marks 

I also see what the Lakers want to do with Mozgov gone but they might regret letting Russell go this early but a lot of things have to happen from now on to justify this trade as a whole and Lonzo Ball better is a good NBA player. 

[Andrew1984Participant]

 D’Angelo Russell is perhaps my favorite player because he’s so similar to my own style and mechanics as a player. I love his set shot, his vision, and his creativity as a passer. 

His biggest problem is that he doesn’t seem very committed to becoming more efficient. His percentages are low and his shot selection is questionable. He also turns the ball over too much.

Additionally, there are reports out of L.A. that Magic Johnson told the players that anyone with over 8 percent body fat will not play. Julius Randle has accepted the challenge and is working out like crazy, but my guess is that Magic doesn’t see enough commitment or discipline in D’Angelo to truly get into that kind of shape. Makes sense that Magic has already lit a fire under Lonzo Ball to get in better shape.

 I think Magic sees the Warriors and Cavs in the Finals, running up and down the floor at any unbelievable pace while maintaining their otherwordly offensive efficiency, and he knows that’s where the league is going. It’s so hard to push the ball like that on offense, and still get back on defense, collapse, rotate, and recover, and exert. From the mid-’90s to 2010ish, the leauge was about strength and physicality, but now it’s about length, skill, versatility, and conditioning. Physically, it’s going back to the ’80s, where you can be skinny without it costing you much. Less banging in the paint, more up-and-down. Lacking both efficiency and top-notch conditioning, D’Angelo just wasn’t a fit. 

In Brooklyn, he’s not likely to be held accountable, and should post nice totals, but continue to be sloppy and fairly lazy.

 

 

 

 

[EndlessknightParticipant]

“Additionally, there are reports out of L.A. that Magic Johnson told the players that anyone with over 8 percent body fat will not play. ”

Magic said what?!? lol

Anyone else remember Magic being a kinda pudgy player haha

[Andrew1984Participant]

From lakersnation.com:

At the time, Cesar wasn’t aware of the new fitness expectations announced by Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka.

“We don’t want anybody over 7-8% body fat anymore,” Johnson told Spectrum SportsNet after the season. “And basically, all but one or two players were in double-figures in body fat. We can’t have that. Those who come back in shape, they’re going to see the court. Those who don’t, won’t see the court. It’s as simple as that. This is not about anything but excellence, so you’ve got to be a professional. This is your job.”

Randle, who was one of several Lakers in double-figures (a high 13.7 percent body fat at the end of March), got the message.

[VRod305Participant]

 You can be as fit as you want, have to be able to make shots. Lakers are such a mess and I love it.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

 ^^^ as bad as Brooklyn was, their coach still holds his players accountable conditioning-wise. DLO will have the keys but hes still a young kid. He will fix the turnovers. If he plays lazy this year, his career will be in question going forward. I think hes smart enough to realize how talented he is. The byron scott/kobe years really delayed russells development IMO

[VRod305Participant]

 I was amazed how little they got for Russell. I don’t think he’s great, but he can score some points and is a starter-quality player. Lakers just gave him away. Why did they need to do it now when PG-13 and LeBron aren’t free agents until next year.

They had to do this though because of the two incredibly dumb free agent deals they gave Deng and Mosgov.

 

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