Karl-Anthony Towns thinks D'Angelo Russell will be an All-Star

D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns will take part in the Rising Stars game featuring the best rookie and sophomore players in the NBA on Friday night, and according to Towns, Lakers fans can expect Russell to be an All-Star Weekend mainstay.

"He's growing into a player that I can't wait to see when he's an All-Star," Towns told Joey Ramirez of Lakers.com of Russell. "He's playing at a higher level right now... He's playing so smart. He's hitting a lot of shots. He's doing a great job."

Towns, who is averaging 17.1 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 54.4 percent from the floor in 30.1 minutes per game as a 19-year old rookie, projects to be a multi-time All-Star in his career. Russell has not quite hit those lofty heights, averaging 12.2 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting, but is still producing at a pretty good pace for a player his age:

D'Angelo Russell is on pace to be the youngest player ever to have a season of 15+ PTS, 5+ REB and 4+ AST per 36 minutes.

— Tom (@TJFsports) January 2, 2016

Russell's rebounding has come down a bit since then (4.8 per 36 minutes), but the rookie has still shown flashes during his first season of the superstar potential that led the Lakers to select him second overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Towns mentioned to Ramirez that he and Russell had never played on the same team before, but if his prediction comes true, it won't be the last time he and D'Angelo are on the same team for an All-Star weekend exhibition

All stats per NBA.com. You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen.