D’Angelo Russell warns other NBA teams saying ‘the sky is the limit’ for the Lakers this next season

No one expected much of the Lakers at the start of the past campaign, but eventually they proved everybody wrong and reached the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets, the eventual champions. Today, the feel around the Los Angeles camp is different, as they finally seem to be in a position to succeed.

Rob Pelinka has been making some important moves ahead of the upcoming campaign, including the re-signing of D’Angelo Russell, who was first acquired during the February trade deadline and since earned a spot in the LA roster.

Even though the 27-year-old’s performances declined significantly during the playoffs, he’s still regarded as one of the main reasons why the team played better in the second half of the season.When asked recently about the Lakers chances of returning to glory next year, he believes the sky is the limit for the purple and gold.

Take a look at his complete interview on this week’s episode of The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone:

“I have no idea. I know we got a lot of bodies though, what you said, we got a lot of bodies. So trying to give the team what it needs every night to win, I think that’s gotta be our focus. Whatever or however it gets done, if everybody is locked in to just giving the team what it needs that night,” he said this week.

“That night might be scoring, the next night might be eight assists, the next night might be all passes becayse they ran you off and you made the one more to Austin Reaves in the corner, he’s hitting. It’s gotta be the right play, right mentality type of energy for our group because anybody can do it. He can throw any five out there and get it done. But if we’re all committed to that I think sky is the limit for the group honestly,” he added.

Russell believes that Nikola Jokic is currently the best basketball player in the world

The point guard admitted to have some struggles during his latest playoff experience, but mostly addressed his team’s woes to playing against Nikola Jokic and his mighty Denver Nuggets, who eventually went off to win their first NBA title.

“Yeah, they got the best player in basketball. They [Nuggets] got the best player in basketball on their team. No disrespect to nobody, he’s the best player in the NBA right now. Not even close. Aye, Jokic, I said this shit like two years ago, bro how do you guard him? How do you guard somebody that don’t even want the ball? I ain’t going to say he don’t want the ball, I ain’t going to say he don’t want the ball, but he don’t care,” he said.

During the podcast session, he further explained why he believes the Serbian big man is currently the best basketball player in the world.

D'Angelo Russell's best NBA player is not LeBron James#DAngeloRussell #denvernuggets #lebronjames #losangeleslakers #nikolajokichttps://t.co/JdyWNtyjk3

— 42 daily sports (@HsbZero) August 3, 2023

The former All-Star went all the way to say that he’s never seen anything like The Joker before, not only is he impossible to guard, but he stacks up numbers in every department with ease.

“He said something crazy to put things into perspective for him. He said if I was in a JV game, I’d average a triple-double or I’d just play the right way,” Russell explained. “He said something so simple, nobody else is saying something like that. You’re in a JV game you’re trying to score 80, trying to get 100 points. No, he’s playing a JV high school game and this dude is gonna have 10-10-10-10-10.”