D'Angelo Russell Is the Real Winner of the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery

As far as dramas go, the 2015 NBA Draft lottery was a bit dull, with only the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers swapping positions. One person who should be quite thankful for the lack of movement among draft positions is Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell.

With a little more than a month to go before the draft, four players remain atop the class, with centers Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor comprising tier 1A and guards Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay occupying tier 1B.

The nature versus nurture debate is one that promises to keep sports psychologists happily perplexed for years to come, but it can hardly be argued that a good on-court fit would greatly benefit these players.

Of the four best players in this class, Russell stands to benefit most from the right teammates. According to USA Today’s Derek Bodner, the pingpong balls that determined the draft lottery’s fate have Russell destined for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The fit couldn’t be better.

Russell’s weakness

There is perhaps no better place to begin talking about Russell’s game than with the play that made the Internet’s eyes pop out of its head. This kind of genius, thankfully captured by Troy Machir of the Sporting News, has earned Russell comparisons to James Harden.

Like Harden, Russell is a 6’5” left-handed guard who is equally capable as a scorer and passer. Like Harden, Russell’s success is derived not from overwhelming physicality but through advanced skill and creativity.

As a freshman at Ohio State, Russell averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebound and 5.0 assists per game as the team’s most talented player. Only twice did he fail to reach double digits in scoring, and that was with all eyes planted firmly on him.

If there is any reason to give pause to Russell’s NBA prospects, it is his lack of explosiveness. He was able to put up big numbers most nights in college, but he won’t find it so easy against quicker, longer defenders in the NBA.

Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress put together this highlight package of Russell’s night against the Arizona Wildcats in the NCAA tournament. In his final collegiate game, Russell managed just nine points on 3-of-19 shooting, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson guarding him.

Hollis-Jefferson is a terrific prospect in his own right—DraftExpress ranks him 13th in this year’s class—but his combination of length and athleticism is hardly unique by NBA standards. It’s doesn’t take much imagination to see how an NBA team can make Russell’s life difficult given the freedom to key on him.

How the 76ers will make Russell’s job easier

Barring a trade, no player picked in the top four this year will be forced to bear the brunt of his team’s expectations as a rookie. Minnesota has Andrew Wiggins to share that responsibility, while the L.A. Lakers and New York Knicks have Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, respectively.

In Philadelphia, Russell will get to lean on Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid both on and off the court.

After a torn ACL suffered in college robbed Noel of the 2013-14 season, he bounced back with a promising rookie campaign. While defense is where Noel will earn his money, his offense took a massive step forward following the All-Star break.

Why the shift? Philadelphia traded Michael Carter-Williams at the deadline and replaced him with Ish Smith, whom Noel called the "first true point guard" he’s played with.

Whether Smith helped Noel is debatable—his career averages of 3.6 points and 2.3 assists per game suggest otherwise—but this YouTube compilation made by Dakota Schmidt shows how Noel’s length and athleticism can make life easy for a point guard:

A Russell-Noel pick-and-roll won’t make people forget about John Stockton and Karl Malone’s connection, but they have the talent to be effective together. According to this tweet from Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, it appears the two are already getting to know each other off the court:

The bigger prize for Russell, though, is Embiid, who missed his rookie season last year with a broken foot.

A 7-footer with strength, athleticism and a rapidly developing post-up game, Embiid is the kind of center that point guards dream about playing with. If his quick feet and deft touch around the rim weren’t scary enough, Embiid started doing this during rehab:

Scary. Very, very scary.

Assuming he’s healthy, Embiid will be the focal point of Philadelphia’s offense and the player around whom opposing teams will build their game plans. Not only will that draw attention away from Russell, but it will open up driving lanes and create space for the lefty to knock down open three-pointers.

No other team near the top of the lottery could offer Russell that kind of one-two punch. Bryant and Anthony are all-time greats, but where will they be in four years when Russell is ready to take the proverbial leap?

If there is one criticism of Philadelphia’s ability to support Russell, it’s that the team lacks a secondary ball-handler to alleviate some of the pressure. That’s a role Dario Saric, a point forward taken with the 12th pick in the 2014 draft, is expected to fill when he joins the team in 2016, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.

Russell is a talented, intelligent guard with a bright future ahead of him. Given time, it’s easy to imagine him finding a way to succeed regardless of the situation. Philadelphia, however, represents his best opportunity for immediate and long-term success.

Thanks to the lottery pingpong balls, that possibility will likely become a reality.