The Los Angeles Lakers started off their 2015-16 season in disappointing fashion as they lost a close one to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. The Lakers are hopeful that they will be more competitive than a year ago and they certainly have the talent to allow that to happen but they just need to figure out the best way to use everyone. D'Angelo Russell struggled in his NBA debut and because of that the Lakers are reportedly planning to play him at point guard and let him handle the ball more, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Head coach Byron Scott wasn't sure if he was going to even start Russell until close to game time but he decided to start the second overall pick but at shooting guard, not his natural point guard spot. Jordan Clarkson instead started at point guard and handled the ball for the most part and while the Lakers were still able to put up 111 points their ball movement wasn't all that great. Roy Hibbert, the Lakers center, led the team in assists with four while Clarkson had just three and Russell had just two.
Clarkson is more of a score first type of player while Russell is more of a facilitator and playmaker so it makes a lot of sense for the Lakers to move Russell to the point and Clarkson off the ball. Russell did struggle with turnovers throughout the preseason and he added three in Wednesday night's game but he has tremendous court vision and is an excellent passer so he should get the ball moving more as he continues to adjust to the NBA game.
In his debut Russell was disappointing as he only had four points on 2-7 shooting and two assists with the aforementioned three turnovers. The Lakers are extremely high on Russell and think he will be a huge star, as shown by the fact that they took him over Jahlil Okafor in the draft, so they will do everything they can to make him comfortable and put him in the best position possible to succeed. Right now that would be at the point guard spot.
By letting Russell handle the ball more it will also take some pressure off of Clarkson who isn't a great facilitator. The Lakers likely won't lose anything from the reported change and they will actually be moving two players to positions they are probably better suited for anyway. We will likely get our first glimpse of this change on Friday night when the Lakers play the Sacramento Kings.
