D’Angelo Russell has made a lot of progress. Back in his Lakers days, if he had double-digit assists or close to it, it was a guarantee that a literal majority of them would be because Nick Young shot the ball as soon as he touched it no matter the situation. I was critical of the quality of his assists in those days, naturally. He was supposed to have elite vision and passing skills, but even I could pass to Young in the corner and watch him chuck a heavily contested triple into the hoop.
Nowadays, we’re seeing a lot more of the real stuff: pick-and-rolls, pocket passes, drive-and-dishes, lobs, all the stuff that real point guards do. He’s still a little turnover prone, sometimes throwing inadvisable passes, but I’d say it’s almost night and day between his Nets career and his Lakers career.
I doubt the Lakers are having any regrets about trading him, but if they do, those doubts were certainly exacerbate tonight. This was a battle of Lakers past versus Lakers present, Russell versus Lonzo Ball, and Russell showed his former team that he is now a force to be reckoned with. He tied a career-high in assists, and canned a big baller brand three to put the game away. That “ice in my veins” thing that he does is cheesy as heck, though. He could not to do that and I’d be fine with it.