Nobody yet knows where Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell will land in next week's NBA Draft, but it's assumed the former college start will be taken in the first five picks.
At this point, anybody who watched a game of Buckeye basketball this past season could tell NBA teams what they'd get in Russell: A lanky, highly-intelligent, silky-smooth playmaker capable of playing either guard spots. Ultimately, that's a testament to Russell's talent.
But what do people who get paid for their basketball opinions think of Russell? Well, Ryan Russillo of Grantland.com sat down with three NBA scouts about America's elite prospects.
Spoiler alert: They're down with Patient 0.
SCOUT 1:
- "He is the best backcourt player in the draft. He is clearly the best point guard."
- "You go underneath, he’s going to pull up. You come off the screen and retreat, and you blew it — he’ll pull up. He’s capable of turning the corner, and once he gets in the lane, he just buries you. You help, he’ll throw lobs. You compact it, he kicks out for open looks."
- "He carried a team as a freshman. A lot to be said for that."
SCOUT 2:
- "Maybe Harden is the right comparison. Harden got stronger and has a little more pop than you think. There are supreme basketball players that aren’t great athletes.
- "I go back and look at his team. They got drilled in the second round [of the NCAA tournament] by Arizona. Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson] and Stanley [Johnson] … they just climbed into his ass. Ohio State didn’t have an answer for them. OK, you can load up on him. Who are you going to throw it to? Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, or Amir Williams? I mean, you can’t. Well, fuck it, we are going to take our chances with this guy. He struggled. Now put him on the floor with NBA players. Try and load on him now."
SCOUT 3:
- "I think he can be in that upper tier of point guards. He has that kind of feel for the game. He’ll be even better with better players. Ohio State wasn’t very good."
- "In college, they have to adjust to these bullshit offensive fouls. In the NBA, he won’t have to deal with that. The pro game will be friendly to him."
- "I have no problems with him as a rookie point guard in the NBA. He’s unselfish. You look at a kid like [Brandon] Jennings — talented, but there is some stuff there. Not a problem with Russell."
Scout 2 also laid down the most explicit critique of Russell's game:
He can’t fucking guard anything. He’s disinterested. I saw [Ohio State] play Marquette earlier in the year. They were playing zone defense. Thad Matta doesn’t play zone. They were doing it to help Russell.
But he's been scouting for soso long, he knows where money is made in the NBA:
There are very few players that get drafted because of their defense. That will be [Arizona's] Hollis-Jefferson and [Kentucky's] [Willie Cauley-Stein]. The other fucking 28 guys? It will be about offense.
He's special.
Yes, yes he is. For more, be sure to check out Russillo's piece in full.
