The Los Angeles Lakers' young roster seems to be ignoring the "off" part of the word offseason. The team may have finished well short of its preseason goal of nabbing a playoff spot, but some of their most promising players are not using that as an excuse to skip putting in work.
Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance, Jr., and Anthony Brown have all been posting on social media about their offseason workouts, a habit D'Angelo Russell has taken part in as well. The Lakers hope the 20-year old can be their franchises' point guard of the future, and Russell seems to be taking that responsibility to heart with how early he has gotten back in the gym.
Russell has been spending time in recent days working out with trainer Robbie Haught at the Cleveland Basketball School, and judging by a video posted on Haught's Instagram, he appears to be focusing on sharpening his post-up skills:
Post-ups were already something Russell showed an aptitude for last year, and so it's encouraging to see him in the gym honing that skill further. Last season, Russell was often quick to recognize a size mismatch and call for a clear out so he could punish a smaller defender down low:
During this small clip of his summer session, Russell looks to be looking to get better at rising and firing over these smaller defenders, an ability which would allow him to be an even more versatile post-up threat. Whether or not it translates to next season is essentially impossible to project, but Russell will first get to test out these new skills against the best of the best when he plays against Team USA in his role as a select team member this July.
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