http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/if-lakers-russell-made-available-cs-could-pique-interest
Ok. Whoa. Did not expect this.
They suggest it would take Marcus Smart and a pick. I think it would have to be a pretty good pick. Two years of minimal improvement hurt a prospects' trade value. If Smart doesn't start showing offensive progress soon, his trade value will plummet.
Russell, on the other hand, shows many signs of being a star in this league some day. I'd gladly trade Smart and a pick for him.
Still, I think the Lakers are better off just trading/cutting everyone else and keeping Russell.
Lol this is exactly what I am talking about.
Kid is juvenile, immature, and foolish, having alienated himself from his teammates in just his first season, and you want him over a guy known for grit, toughness, and resolve, and while having a rough offensive stretch, is still makes winning plays over and over again.
Seriously, it gets really old seeing you defend guys like Okafore and Russel, while dogging on celtics players all the time.
First it was that Randle is way better than Smart, then it was Brooklyn will be a playoff contender, then it was how awesome Oakfor and Russell are when they have been terrible NBA rookies, when off court antics are considered (which Danny clearly considers ).
Why?
I get different opinions, but you, in all honesty do not come off like you root for the celtics.
I am not saying you dont, or are a bad fan, or anything like that, but if someone read your posts, and didn't see your username, they could very easily assume you root for someone other than the celtics.
Is Russell immature? Sure. He just turned 20 years old. He's a kid. At times this season, it's been clear he hates playing on the Lakers. He hates his coach... so much so that one of his teammates was overheard whispering "don't say anything crazy" when Russell asked about Byron Scott in an interview. This has to be a miserable season for him. Is it wrong to videotape your teammate and allow it to leak online? Sure. Do I give him a pass on it? Yup. Talent, baby. Russell has undeniable talent. I was a fan of him before the draft and I've been a fan of what I've seen of him as a 19 year old. Clearly he has a way to go, but I'm a fan of what I see. He can be special. To me, it looks like he'll end up a Kyrie Irving-level player... that is, if his career isn't over after videotaping some cheating scrub of a journeyman.
Since the all-star break he's averaged 16 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1.2 steal with 42%/41%/76% shooting in just 28 minutes... which is great for a player his age playing that position. Those shooting percentages will likely jump (guys like LeBron and Durant shot around 40% as rookies). I was willing to bet on Russell before the draft and I still am... regardless of his twitter mistake.
Was his behavior immature? Yes. For the record, you're wrong about how I look at the Celtic players. I'm generally pretty reasonable. I've given plenty of them props this year. I've had many praising posts this year alone about Kelly Olynyk, Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley and others. I give them props when they deserve it. People gloss over those, because of my reputation here. Jared Sullinger is a great example. I was one of the only people defending him this Summer. I pointed out his stats pre-injury were pretty outstanding. I pointed out that his per numbers in the playoffs were actually pretty solid. I wasn't willing to say his career was over like some of the folks here. I didn't see him as a long-term part of this team's future (still don't), but I wasn't going to ignore his talent because of his behavior.
Has Sully done some immature things in the past? Sure. I gave him a pass for the domestic violence stuff, the showing up late/missing practices, the inability to keep his weight in check. Sully showed all the immaturity of a D'Angelo Russell, but was on a less volatile team with more competent management, ownership and coaching. Who knows what kind of antics Sully would have had on a circus of a team like the Lakers. But yeah, I gave him a pass.
As for Smart, I've repeatedly given him the benefit of the doubt. Up until very recently, I remained steadfast in my belief that he was THE most valuable asset on this team. A month ago I polled this forum on whether they would hypothetically trade Smart for the Suns unprotected pick... 85% of this forum, MYSELF INCLUDED, homerishly voted that they wouldn't trade him for the pick. More recently, I wrote an extensive post about my feelings about Smart:
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=83549.msg2054189#msg2054189 In short, I'm still hopefully he'll make a leap, but I can't pretend like I'm not disappointed in his offensive play thus far. And let's just get this out of the way...
Would I give Smart a pass if he displayed the same immaturity of D'Angelo Russell? Yes. I would ... and I HAVE. Smart is two years older than D'Angelo Russell. Let's go back in time two years to see how Marcus Smart was behaving as a 20 year old. I wonder if he was pulling any kind of immature antics? Hmm... Let's hop in the time machine. Oh... what's this? Marcus Smart physically assaulting a fan on National television?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5sGdUIC-X8I never at any point held that incident against Smart. Actually, I'm pretty sure if someone dug through the ol LarBrd33 archives you'd find some pre-draft posts from me glossing over the incident and suggesting that it was just a sign of his competitiveness. Yes, I give young Celtic players the same leeway I do opposing young guys I want us to trade for.
And for the record, it's CSNNE who wrote the article suggesting a possible Russell for Smart + picks trade. They were just jumping on the scandal to get some clicks from Celtics fans, but I'm supportive of their hypothetical. I think we'd need to include a pretty substantial 1st rounder along with Smart to get the Lakers talking, though.
Topic: DeAngelo Russell secretly films Nick Young - creates huge rift (Read 59766 times)