The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping that the future of the franchise begins now after they drafted former Ohio State Buckeyes standout D'Angelo Russell as the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
The selection was a surprise to many since the Lakers were expected to pick Duke center Jahlil Okafor which they say will be a safer decision for the struggling team.
Instead they took the risk and got themselves a guard which has a huge potential to be the face of the franchise in the coming years.
Russell only spent one season with Ohio State but had excellent averages of 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
"That franchise isn't used to losing, and I'm a winning player," Russell said of the Lakers in a report by the Associated Press.
The 19-year-old also spoke about working with five-time champion Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
"I'm really looking forward to him taking me under his wing, if possible, and really just feeding me the most knowledge he can," Russell said according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, head coach Byron Scott already complimented Russell during his workouts with the Lakers ahead of the draft and believes he has the chance to be a superstar.
As guards slowly take over the league, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said they did not select Russell because of the transition happening in the NBA.
But Russell believes otherwise and said about the Golden State Warriors, "I mean, who won the championship? They did. They put something together that was beautiful with just wings and guards. There was no size really on the floor, so I feel like it's slowly been changing to a wing and guard league."
The other two picks for Los Angeles are 27th overall pick forward Larry Nance Jr. from Wyoming and 34<sup>th overall pick Anthony Brown who is a California-native out of Stanford.
