22. D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
Reflecting on last season, the one thing that many remember about D’Angelo Russell’s post-NBA Trade Deadline stint with the Los Angeles Lakers is the fact that he was benched in the Western Conference Finals. However, there were many other bright moments that he had after he was acquired. In fact, you can probably make the argument that the Lakers probably don’t make their playoff run without swapping Russell Westbrook for D’Angelo Russell at the trade deadline.
In 17 regular season games, Russell averaged 17 points and six assists per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from 3-point range. He might’ve struggled with Jamal Murray in the conference finals but after the run that the Denver Nuggets went on, which team didn’t have trouble containing him?
Russell may not enter the season as one of the best point guards in the league but he’s still pretty solid. In fact, the Lakers could’ve easily let him walk in free agency but decided he was too valuable to allow that. Russell should continue to be a solid contributor for the Lakers this season. I don’t envision him losing the starting spot to Gabe Vincent.