The Los Angeles Lakers did not have much success in their Summer League campaign winning only one out of the five games they played in and one notable issue was no. 2 overall pick D'Angelo Russell's struggling performance.
In five games Russell averaged 11.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steal and a horrible 5.2 turnovers per outing.
"Not good. I know what I'm capable of, and I know the work that we put in before we came here as a team. I don't feel like we played to our full potential," Russell said of his and the team's performance according to the Los Angeles Times.
The 19-year-old player had his best offensive outpoint in their last Summer League game Friday against the Utah Jazz, in which they lost 84-78 but he had 21 points after a 10-of-21 shooting from the field.
Despite his struggles, Lakers head coach Byron Scott stood by his new point guard.
"Let's make this very clear, Russell is not Magic Johnson. Magic came on the scene, and instantly he's a Hall-of-Famer. D'Angelo has a way to go, there's no doubt about that," Scott told the Los Angeles Times.
Scott added, "Sometimes when you come out here and you're the No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 pick, you expect to come out here and tear the league up. When guys kind of eat your lunch every now and then, it brings you back down to earth and lets you know that you still have a long way to go. In the long run, this might be the best thing that ever happened to him."
Although Russell was criticized during his first four games in the Summer League, he did not let it affect his performance and it paid dividends during their final game.
"I thought he got better tonight," Scott said following Russell's great offensive showing against the Jazz.
The Lakers head coach added, "I still think the kid has the chance to be an unbelievable basketball player. His poise out there is still second to none, of what I saw of all the guys here at summer league."
