Brooklyn Nets: D’Angelo Russell staying is inevitable

Brooklyn Nets. D'Angelo Russell (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets. D'Angelo Russell (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

City Love and Rafter Potential

When you think of the love that fans and organizations have for certain players, you think of Cleveland and LeBron James, Golden State and Stephen Curry, and now that same type of love can be said about Brooklyn and Russell. After getting to New York City, he made the most of his time as soon as he stepped on the court.

Only playing in 48 games his first season with the Brooklyn Nets, Russell gave the fans a taste of what he was capable of. His second season was one out of a storybook. 21.1 points, 7 assists, and 3.9 rebounds a night turned the kid who got chased out of L.A. for recording on a camera phone to the most beloved basketball player in New York.

More from Empire Writes Back

Making your way into the rafters for any NBA organization is no easy feat, but if anyone has the tools to do it, it’s definitely Russell. There hasn’t been a Brooklyn Nets point guard that has had this much buzz around him since the organization’s best of all time, Jason Kidd. There’s a reason for that. Very few point guards possess the unique type of talent that this kid has. That’s why he’s such a hot commodity on the market right now.

Russell is a 6-5, 198-pound, left-handed ball-handler that can shoot the three ball at a career 35 percent clip. If teams aren’t salivating at the mouth over just that alone, I don’t know what else they would be looking for. In fact, Russell is only one of three point guards all-time after Nate McMillan and Brian Shaw who stand at least 6-5 and shoot the three above 30 percent.

Even more enticing is the fact that Russell is the only point guard in NBA History to stand at least 6-5 and attempt over six three-point shots per game at 35 percent. Then there are his 5.1 assists and overall pass IQ make that make him much more than just a scorer. These numbers aren’t anything to chuckle at, in fact, these are the type of numbers that get a jersey retired and a ticket to the Basketball Hall of Fame.