Derek Fisher breaks down D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley's impact on LA Lakers: "They're not going to stand in the corner and wait for the ball"
The LA Lakers' new arrivals D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley have certainly got the eye of fans of the franchise. With former NBA champion Derek Fisher joining Spectrum SportsNet, he highlighted the value the two could bring to the team moving forward.
The LA Lakers made some huge moves ahead of the trade deadline. After a relatively quiet off-season and regular season, the Purple and Gold practically changed their entire roster by making some important trades.
In the process of making players such as Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley, the Lakers added some solid players to their team. Among these players, D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley has been rated quite highly.
Russell already has a reputation as a former Laker himself. Meanwhile, Beasley is considered an elite sharpshooter by several players in the league. With these two, the Lakers managed to add some solid perimeter threats to their rotation.
This could pay off dividends in the future as fans eagerly wait for the players to assimilate into the system.
In light of this process, former Lakers guard and NBA champion Derek Fisher shared his thoughts on how the two could impact the team's current situation. While speaking on Spectrum SportsNet's pre-game broadcast, Fisher highlighted the plays that he thought best represented the players' ability to contribute.
With DLo's playmaking and Beasley's shooting being the primary focus of Fisher's report, he added:
"For the new additions, they are comfortable offensive players. So when you put them next to superstars like LeBron and AD, they're not going to stand in the corner and wait for the ball. They know how to find space and good offensive scoring opportunities."
.@derekfisher breaks down D'Angelo Russell & Malik Beasley's impact on the team so far.
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D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley have certainly shown a lot of promise in the few games that they have played in a Lakers jersey.
Although Beasley started off a bit cold in his first two games, he caught fire by the end of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Having warmed up since Beasley is quickly emerging as a legitimate perimeter threat.
i just don’t understand why we aren’t focusing a little more on malik beasley
dude literally hit 6 threes in like 12 mins (end of third and all of fourth quarter) you gotta have this guys minutes glued to lebrons when he comes back https://t.co/P1Y61zFIUZ
Meanwhile, Russell has been fairly solid on the offensive side of things. Displaying tremendous composure on dribble hand-offs and making good decisions with the ball, Russell is setting up a solid rhythm for the offense.
D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley could form the LA Lakers' starting backcourt
LA Lakers head coach Darvin Ham presented the idea of starting D'Angelo Russell alongside Dennis Schroder in the last game. While both complement each other well, the size disparity doesn't help the Lakers' defense.
In light of this, Ham also toyed with the combination of Russell and Malik Beasley on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans. The result was quite satisfactory.
Although Beasley only recorded eight points against New Orleans, he was quite impressive on both ends of the court. Meanwhile, Russell continued to display great composure in running the offense and staying within the flow of things.
The Lakers enjoyed a lot of flexibility with their overall rotation. However, the duo of D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley could have been a huge reason for this. With the frontcourt in place, the Lakers may opt to gauge the potential of this combination in their guard rotation.
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