Brooklyn Nets: Three realistic goals for D’Angelo Russell this season
The Brooklyn Nets and D’Angelo Russell have a lot to prove this season. So, here are three realistic goals for D’Angelo Russell this season.
To his fault or not, D’Angelo Russell‘s stint with the Brooklyn Nets so far has been mediocre. The only thing going for his tenure here is that he has barely even tapped his potential.
The former second overall pick needed a fresh start upon his arrival in Brooklyn from the Lakers. His talent is still there and all he needs to do is put all together.
Russell is capable of being the backbone of the Nets’ foundation. The Nets also went out and traded for him, so he is seemingly part of their rebuild.
However, considering he is coming off an injury ritteled season, and one where his stats did not tell the full story, he has a lot to prove.
Russell will not turn into the point guard of the future over night, and this year can act as a refresh for what his entire career can be.
So, let’s start small with the first realistic goal for Russell this season.
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Play in at least 75 games
This is a very fair number. Russell was only able to go in 48 games last year, his only as a Net. He did not nearly come close to the amount of time the Nets hoped they would see.
Considering starting in all 82 games this season would be a stretch, 75 is a reasonable number to put here.
Russell could play in more games if need be.
However, he cannot afford to get injured and lose significant time. He will need to play a lot more than 48 games if he wants to get a contract extension/prove he is worth it to the Nets to stick around.
The Nets have already dealt with stars getting injured and missing significant time. So Russell should make it a goal of his to stay healthy and start in 75 games this season.
That will provide the team with a large enough sample size to keep or not keep him around.
Spencer Dinwiddie‘s successful season last year might become a problem, but Russell should get more reps for he is more of a future asset.
Dinwiddie is another player to keep an eye on, but with a healthy Russell will not get as many starts as he did last year.
A great goal for Russell, a good goal for him to start with, is appropriately to start 75 games next year. That will tell us all we need to know about his future.