(NBA) Draft or Pass: D'Angelo Russell

Over the next few weeks leading up to the 2015 NBA Draft I’ll be reviewing some of the top prospects slated to be drafted before or around the No. 7 overall pick, currently owned by the Denver Nuggets. Because abundant backdrop on each of these players can be found across the Internet, my goal is not to recycle statistics, personal upbringing stories or opinions held by the general public, but rather to interpret the data and ultimately determine whether the Nuggets should draft or pass on these future NBA-check collectors.

Up next in our series analyzing the best prospects in the 2015 NBA Draft is perhaps the very best prospect in the 2015 NBA Draft, D’Angelo Russell.

Dimensions

19 years old | 6-5 | 193 pounds | Shooting Guard | Ohio State

Rundown

Russell came into college this past year fairly unheralded, yet by season’s end he was perhaps the single most impressive athlete in the game. Russell finished the year averaging 19 points, six boards and five assists per game while shooting 41 percent from downtown — numbers more spectacular than those posted by Stephen Curry and James Harden (Russell’s seemingly most accurate NBA comparisons) in their freshman seasons at Davidson and Arizona State, respectfully.

Why He’ll Succeed

Russell is as close as it gets to the complete All-Star package. He’s an excellent shooter from beyond the 3-point arc as well as off the dribble, he has great height and length for a wing, he’s one of the best passers in the draft (maybe the best), he’s an excellent rebounder for his size, his scoring instincts are superb and he has the mental makeup of a superstar. Outside of his athleticism there’s really nothing Russell doesn’t have or do at an absolute elite level.

Why He’ll Fail

At the time of this posting ESPN.com is reportedly working on an analytics piece that will determine the players in the upcoming draft with the largest chances of becoming busts. Russell is supposedly No. 1 on this list with a 40 percent chance of underwhelming in the NBA. At the same time he also has a 15 percent chance of becoming a superstar. If you ask me those numbers should be reversed, and quite frankly this entire report sounds nauseating (is it really that hard to just watch players play basketball to determine how good they are?), yet it’s worth mentioning… I guess. Outside of a set of randomly calculated digits, others point to Russell’s lack of athleticism as reason for concern.

Draft or Pass?

As I stated in my first big board, I think Russell will end up being the best player in this draft, maybe even by a long shot. And that’s saying something considering the talent level at the front end of this class.

The way I see it, the modern-day NBA is all about stretching the floor and defending those same players who stretch the floor. You need guys who can shoot and yet you must have athletic lock-down defenders who can defend those very same shooters. If you look at the best players in the league right now, nearly every one can shoot — even the All-Star power forwards like Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis. The top four MVP vote recipients from this past season (Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook) are all shooters. The MVPs from the last two seasons have both been some of the best shooters in the league (Kevin Durant and Curry), and yet neither is considered an explosive athlete. Hence my adulation for Russell.

As you might have surmised, Russell isn’t going to drop to the Nuggets at No. 7 on draft night. He likely won’t even make it past the first three teams drafting. So if the Nuggets want to obtain him they’ll have to make a trade, perhaps with Philadelphia at three or even the Lakers at two. They’ll likely have to surrender an arm and a leg to do so — something along the lines of Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried or Wilson Chandler and perhaps the No. 7 overall pick. But I think it would be worth it. I think this is exactly the type of player and trade the Nuggets have been waiting for ever since Carmelo Anthony departed four and a half years ago for New York. Would it be a gamble? Of course. But as they say, fortune favors the bold; and in the NBA fortune is the child of those who possess superstars. I believe Russell has a great shot of becoming one, which is why he’s not only a “draft” in this category, but a “surrender your entire team in order to obtain him.”