How D’Angelo Russell creates for others – just like James Harden

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1: D’ANGELO RUSSELL IS JAMES HARDEN 2.0 — SCORING

In my previous post I discussed how I saw a ton of James Harden in Ohio State freshman guard D’Angelo Russell. The video in that post looked at all the different way the two lefty guards score the ball.

This video examines the way that Russell and Harden create for their teammates. Despite the knocks on his defensive habits, Harden is widely considered to be the best 2-guard in the NBA today, taking the torch from Dwyane Wade. Harden scores at a crazy clip, we’ve seen some of the shots he takes – and makes – but what makes Harden even more dangerous is his ability to have the ball in his hands and create shots for others. You have to respect what he can do passing — he’s not a black hole.

Having a 2-guard like Harden afford the Rockets the luxury of being able to play a Patrick Beverley type player, a defense first point guard, without having to worry about a scoring dip in the back court. With Beverley hurt through the playoffs, the Rockets essentially slid Harden to the point. (One could argue that Jason Terry was the nominal point guard in the starting lineup, but either way the ball was in Harden’s hands.)

Having a player like Russell who can score and create like Harden makes the Ohio State product a prime candidate for the #2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Do the Lakers agree?