Under Pressure - Di'Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets
- Nov 20, 2017
- 2 min read
Di’Angelo Russell had a rough time in L.A, his motives, motivation and character were constantly question by fans and the organisation, which makes you wonder if they ever wanted him there?
His end in Purple and Gold came as part of a salary dump/ way to make way for Lonzo Ball via a trade to the Brooklyn Nets, where the pressure will be on him to be the main building block for a franchise that has had a rough couple of years.
Despite this pressure, the Brooklyn Nets/Kenny Atkinson motion offence should give Russell a lot more freedom to dictate play on the court, while growing as a leader on the court. Off the court, it should give him the opportunity to grow as a person. Something he never had the chance to do in Los Angeles.
Despite the above sounding like a positive, it has a whole bunch of pressure associated with it. The fans know he can ball, after all, alongside Steph Curry, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving, he’s managed to be one of only four players that averaged 18 points and 5 assists per 36 minutes while shooting over 35% from beyond the arc in their first two seasons. And the fans in Brooklyn will want to see this Russell play night after night, they expect big things from him.
The big question around him is based on his ability to lead and defend, because fans will quickly lose their patience if both aren’t displayed on the court. Thankfully, he has an intelligent and mature group of players around him that can help him grown and develop.
It must be noted that the pressure on him increased twice over when Jeremy Lin was declared out for the season, his main source of competition may be gone, but he has no decent back-up that can match-up well against second units, meaning he'll have to do more when he's on the floor. In addition to this Di'Angelo is set to miss several week through surgery, adding the pressure for when he returns. Can he be the same player? Will he slot back into the system without a problem? All of these questions will be asked and eventually answered.
Despite this, Brooklyn and it’s fans will give Russell room to learn and grow, they’ve had a rough few years since the Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and Devon Williams era, and the fans want this team to get better. And by rallying around Di’Angelo Russell, this franchise may turn things around.
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