2015 NBA Draft Profile: D’Angelo Russell

He is considered one of the best guards in the country and top prospects for the 2015 NBA Draft. Ohio State freshmen guard D’Angelo Russell has shot up the draft boards from around the country. What makes his skill set so coveted?

Name: D’Angelo Russell

School: Ohio State

Position: Point Guard/Shooting Guard

Height: 6’5″

Weight: 176 pounds

Projected Draft Position: Top 5 – 10 pick

Overview: At the start of the season, D’Angelo Russell’s name was not in this type of conversation. While highly recruited and a McDonald’s All-American, Russell was seen at the start of the season as a guard that needed some bulk, game experience and a projected second round pick.

What a difference four months can make.

Since the start of the season, Russell has exploded onto the radar of NBA teams and is now projected to be a top five pick. He is currently averaging 19.4 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game. He shoots over 47% from the field and 44% from three-point range. Simply put, he might be the most offensively gifted guard in America. The salivating part for NBA GMs (and terrifying thing for NCAA teams) is that Russell still has many things to improve upon on the offensive and defensive ends.

Pros: As mentioned, Russell is a silky smooth ball handler who can effortlessly dribble, drive, shoot and share the basketball. He has proven this year at Ohio State that he can score from pretty much anywhere on the basketball court. A favorite move of his is to bounce off a high pick and drain long 2s and 3s from the top of the key, as seen here against Minnesota. He is also comfortable coming moving without the basketball and shooting set shots off screens or taking the ball and driving to the hoop.

Transition is another strong suit of Russell as his tremendous court vision and speed allows him to get to the basket and find open cutters. He also excels at running to the three-point line and knocking down transition threes as seen in these various highlights from a career-high performance against Northwestern from earlier this season. This skill will be a big weapon for many NBA teams.

From a passing standpoint, I think the current college basketball pass of the year pretty much shows his potential in this department. Russell has averaged over six assists in nine of his games this year and had a high of ten assists against a ranked Indiana Hoosiers team led by fellow all-Big Ten point guard, Yogi Ferrell.

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Defensively, at 6’ 5” Russell has the length and quickness to guard the point guard spot in the NBA. He currently is 5^th in the Big Ten in steals at nearly 2 steals a game and possesses quick hands a knack for jumping into passing lanes.

Finally, Russell, in a pleasant surprise, has shown great improvement in rebounding this season. In his last seven games, Russell has averaged 8.5 rebounds a game, including two games in which he pulled down 14 rebounds each. It is a key weapon for an Ohio State that sometimes lacks size when using their best lineups.

Weaknesses: Russell still has areas in his game in need refinement. Luckily, these things are correctable and somewhat of a result of being young and inexperienced.

First, Russell could stand to bulk up. He is listed at 176 and that is probably generous. He needs to continue to hit the weight room to defend on a level that matches his potential. This leads to Russell sometimes taking plays off on defense and that will hurt him on the next level. Focus, bulk and effort are needed on more of a consistent level.

Offensively, Russell could stand to improve some of his decision making. He sometimes rushes shots and has a tendency to turn the ball over too much. His 64 turnovers for the year (2.8 average) are far too high, but these numbers have shown signs of improvement within the past month of games with an average of 2.0 turnovers per game over his last seven.

Summary: D’Angelo Russell will be a top five pick in this year’s NBA draft should he decide to declare. He has the potential to move all the way up to the second spot depending how the rest of the year shapes up. He has elite skills in scoring and passing. He has surprised some this year with an improved ability to rebound and has the potential to be a quality defender with a knack for steals. In areas of improvement, Russell needs to become a better decision maker at times and needs consistent effort on defense.

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