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How Many Games Do You Project The Lakers Will Win This Season?

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  • 51-55

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  • 56-73

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  • They Will Break the NBA Record with 74+ Wins

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For the Lakers who have taken to shunning rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell, as ESPN reported, there is one inescapable fact: with almost no exceptions, Russell will be a Laker for much longer than anyone else on the roster. Everyone likes a principled stand, but everyone likes No. 2 draft picks more.

However you judge the actions of Russell, who surreptitiously recorded teammate Nick Young discussing dalliances with other women in a hotel-room gab session, the result is going to be the same. The video leaked, and as a result, teammates have taken to giving Russell a collective cold shoulder. Maybe Russell broke some unspoken guy rule, maybe he is a no-conscience fink, maybe he is a young guy playing a prank that got out of hand.

"Nothing to talk about," Russell said (via Inside SoCal) as he left the Lakers' practice facility without doing interviews. (He and Young will address the media tonight.)

And there may not be. He’s the franchise cornerstone, and the franchise is going to stick with him. There has been much hand-wringing over what Russell’s boneheadedness might do to the Lakers locker room, but the Lakers don’t have much locker room camaraderie as it is. They’re 15-59, and they have (at most) only six players, other than Russell, under contract next season. Does anyone think Russell’s stunt will have any impact on the fabric of this team, which has pretty much been unraveled from the outset of the season?

Certainly, the rookie needs to learn from his mistake. A repeat offense would be bad. But this scans as the error in judgment that one unnamed team source described to ESPN as a "prank gone wrong."

Young has been terrible this year, shooting 33.9 percent from the field and averaging a career-low 7.3 points. There was a chance, even without the Russell incident, he was going to be waived this summer, the Lakers eating the remaining $11 million on his ill-advised contract. He has the biggest beef against Russell, of course, but there could very well only be nine games left in the Russell-Young tandem, anyway.

Forward Brandon Bass has a player option worth $3.1 million, and could very well opt out and become a free agent this summer. That would leave Lou Williams as the only veteran on the roster.

The other Lakers — second-year players Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson (who likely will re-sign) and fellow rookies Larry Nance Jr. and Anthony Brown — have a distinct interest in letting the Young-Russell kerfuffle pass. For one thing, if the Lakers are to pull themselves out of the last five years’ doldrums, guys like Russell, Randle and Clarkson figure to be a part of it. Also, it’s never wise for teammates to hold grudges against their point guards. He’s the one deciding who gets the ball, after all.

“The only thing I’m disappointed about is it got out,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said (via Inside SoCal), despite his frequent criticisms of Russell. “We’re a family and we try to keep everything in house. That’s the only thing I’m disappointed.”

Russell might have seen his reputation take a hit in the past week with the news of the leaking of his Young video. But unless he is a serial videographer, this is not something that will stick with him. The bulk of the current Lakers roster will be gone by Summer League, and it’s probable the team will have a new coach then. On a different team, one that was just building up into a winner and featured a slew of long-term pieces, this might be an issue going forward. Not with this team, though.

It’s not going to be a deterrent for potential free-agents looking to sign with the Lakers, either. One prominent agent was asked about players now being scared off from playing with Russell. He laughed. “No,” he said. “The Lakers have money and they’re in L.A. That’s what players are interested in most.”

His fellow Lakers, then, can continue to shun Russell as much as they like. It’s not hard to imagine how bad the guy feels about the entire situation, and maybe his teammates are justified in spending the season’s final three weeks hammering home his regrets.

But it just doesn’t matter. Russell is not going anywhere. His teammates might not like him, but he is going to get a whole new crop by next year, anyway.
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No playoffs contention yet I see this thread jumped 10+pgs last time I checked...

iggyazalea-lakers-gif-geeksandcleats.gif
 
Woj

In the aftermath of a leaked video of teammate Nick Young, a seemingly contrite Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell told The Vertical that he felt “sick” and “sorry” and insisted that he never considered that “these pranks that we pull on each other could have bigger consequences.”

Russell, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft and a cornerstone of the Lakers’ future, has been leveled with the public revelation of a 30-second video that included Young discussing relationships with women outside of his engagement to entertainer Iggy Azalea.

Russell used his phone to make the video in December, but it wasn’t until last week that a celebrity website obtained the video and made it public.

“I am sick,” Russell told The Vertical by phone on his drive to the Staples Center on Wednesday. “I am sorry about recording the video. I can’t repeat myself enough on that: I am sorry I recorded that video. I feel horrible. I wish this never happened.”

When asked about how the video left his possession and became public months after it was recorded, Russell told The Vertical: “Honestly, I have no idea. Me and Nick, that’s our friendship: We play around a lot. Anyone who knows him and knows me, they know that about us. But I apologize for recording that video. I never intentionally wanted to hurt anyone. I never wanted what was said in there to get out. It was my fault that it did, but that was never intentional.

“The thing is, we record ourselves doing dumb stuff all the time,” Russell told The Vertical. “On the road or home, wherever. We go back and watch what we did and said and laugh at ourselves. I guess I just never thought that these pranks we pull on ourselves could have bigger consequences. That was a big lesson I learned.

“I’ve said to myself over and over: What could anyone possibly gain by intentionally doing something that could hurt someone else’s relationship? I never wanted to hurt anyone. I’m sorry for it.”

Russell told the Vertical that he had spoken to Young and apologized to him – but wouldn’t say whether he believed his apology had been accepted. “He heard me out,” Russell told The Vertical. “I cherish our friendship on and off the court. … I never meant to hurt anyone.”

For Russell, the larger issue remains how his teammates – current and future – will accept him. As a point guard, Russell will need players to buy into his leadership. At 20 years old, that was a job that was hard enough for him already. Russell declined to discuss how his teammates had treated him in recent days, but acknowledged that he had relationships to repair.

“Listen, man, I know that it will take some time to regain trust and confidence,” Russell told The Vertical. “I hope they know I would never intentionally hurt someone – and know how horrible I feel.”

After leaving Ohio State after a sparkling freshman season a year ago, Russell wanted desperately for the Lakers to draft him at No. 2 overall. Despite an uneven year of performance and playing time – and now the fervor over the video – Russell insists that his desire to play and ultimately blossom with the Lakers is unwavering.

“I have the best job in the world, playing for this franchise, in a city that I love,” Russell told The Vertical. “You have to be willing to take the good with the bad, and that’s part of this job. … But I feel even stronger today than I did then. I love this city and love this franchise. … I take nothing for granted.

“I know this is going to be tough. I am a good person. I cherish the relationships I have and I would never intentionally hurt someone. I will work hard to earn back the trust of my teammates and those who were impacted by this.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
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Good start so far. :pimp:
 
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So now rumors are starting....Celtics are trying to trade for Russell now for draft picks and Marcus smart
 
The site that leaked the website is saying someone from Nicki Minaj's camp leaked the video to get back at Iggy.
 
if any free agents were interested in LA, they have one foot out the door as long as dlo is on the team. he can apologize all he wants. that mistrust is there. fellow teammates can forgive him but outside of LA, most will proceed with caution.
 
I'd rather pick at the least 2nd and then 4th (maybe even 12th or 22nd too if they really wanna come up off them picks) than to keep this goof ball on the squad... Or at least have the power of those picks to make other moves

2 picks in the top 5???? Pack this man bags b
 
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I had a feeling this how dlo and NY mess around...like what im hearing so far...someone post their news conference I got no access to laker chanel right now
 
:rofl: at thinking the Celtics will give up everything for Russell.

Has nothing to even do with Russell. Thinking Ainge will trade the farm for Russell :lol:
 
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