Lakers News: D'Angelo Russell Ranked Surprisingly Low On List Of Top NBA Point Guards

He's definitely better than some of this competition.

Newly re-signed Los Angeles Lakers starting (for now) point guard D'Angelo Russell has been ranked surprisingly low on a fresh list appraising the top players at his position from Frank Urbina of HoopsHype.

The 6'4" vet comes in a lowly 23rd on Urbina's list of 24 players, ahead of teammate Gabe Vincent (who is unranked, despite being the best player on a Finals team this summer), clearly an indicator that Urbina anticipates Russell will kick off the 2023-24 season as the team's starter.

"Another midseason 2022-23 trade acquisition, D’Angelo Russell provided the Los Angeles Lakers with a huge spark upon joining the team thanks to his reliable scoring and playmaking, as well as his knack for picking up steals," Urbina writes. "Sure, his playoff numbers – 13.3 points and 4.6 assists per game on 42.6 percent shooting – were not great, but overall, his addition helped the Lakers surge in the second half of 2022-23 and become legitimate contenders to win the West, as the purple and gold got all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Now, with a full offseason to acclimate with the team, Russell may have an even bigger impact, although he’ll have to fight off free-agent pickup Gabe Vincent for a starting role on the team. We’re confident he’ll be able to do just that and post another good season in 2023-24."

The craziest thing to yours truly is that Russell, who will be earning $17.3 million in the first year of his new contract with LA, is somehow ranked below now-Los Angeles Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook, whose market was so dry this summer that he accept a scant $3.8 million deal to stay with the Clips. Westbrook, as you'll recall, was so terrible with the Lakers that the team was headed for a second straight lottery-bound season prior to its decision to waive his deal for Russell and other pieces.

Westbrook is also ranked ahead of Chris Paul and Derrick White, both of whom he's demonstrably better than at this point in their careers.

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