The barriers no longer stand in D’Angelo Russell’s place. He has a coach that will develop him more with positive reinforcement than frequent criticism. He has become a charge of leading a Lakers team instead of deferring to a Hall-of-Fame teammate. He also has an extra year worth of experience that taught him various lessons in work habits, maturity and basketball expertise.
All of which likely explains why he landed in fourth place in an NBA.com survey that assessed players most likely to have a breakout season. The results stemmed from polling the league’s general managers.
But even if Russell feels empowered in his second season, he does not feel suddenly encouraged that plenty of basketball executives are expecting big things.