NBA Draft: Top 25 one-and-done prospects of all-time

Before he became the lead guard for the Brooklyn Nets, D’Angelo Russell was running things for a season with head coach Thad Matta and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Russell made an impact right away for the Buckeyes as a starter during the 2014-15 campaign. He averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per contest, while shooting 41.1 percent from behind the arc. He averaged 2.7 made 3-pointers per game with his 95 makes ranking second among Big Ten players.

Fittingly enough, Russell won the Big Ten Rookie of the Year award and earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors, as well as the inaugural Jerry West Award, given annually to the best shooting guard in the college game. The Buckeyes would go on to lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, though it didn’t dash the NBA prospects of Russell.

In the 2015 NBA Draft, he was selected as the second overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers behind only Karl-Anthony Towns. He produced 14.3 points, 4.0 assists, 3.5 rebound and 1.3 steals per game through 143 games in Los Angeles, but his stay was short-lived. After spending two seasons with the Lakers, he was traded to the Nets, where he’s since flourished.

He made his first NBA All-Star appearance with the Nets in 2018-19, putting up a career-high 21.1 points and 7.0 assists per game, to go along with 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest through 81 games. He also made the first playoff appearance of his career this past season, which should be the first of many to come.