Jordan Clarkson Expects D'Angelo Russell to Aim for 30-40 Points vs. Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson said he expects former teammate D'Angelo Russell to do everything in his power to light up the Lakers on Friday night in his return to Staples Center in L.A.

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com passed along comments from Clarkson, who's kept in contact with the Brooklyn Nets guard and thinks he wants to show the Los Angeles front office, including president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, it made a mistake by trading him.  

"Oh, he's going to be fired up," he said. "S--t, he'll try to go for 30? 40? I don't know how many shots he's gonna put up. He's gonna come in here, he's gonna try to get a win for sure. He's definitely going to put them up."

The Lakers selected Russell with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. After a pair of up-and-down seasons with the rebuilding organization, he was traded to Brooklyn in June as part of a deal in which Brook Lopez and the draft pick that became Kyle Kuzma landed in L.A.

He's off to a strong start with the Nets, averaging 21.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 46.6 percent from the field across seven games.

Lakers forward Julius Randle, who spent the past two years playing alongside Russell, also expects to see him in attack mode during Friday's game, per Youngmisuk.

"He kind of got a fresh start. He still was in a major city in Brooklyn, New York. He's obviously doing very well,” Randle said, before adding: "[Russell will be] extremely fired up. Who wouldn't be?"

Going up against rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, who the Lakers drafted with the second overall selection this year, merely adds to the intrigue of his return. Ball is coming off a game Thursday night against the Portland Trail Blazers in which he scored no points in 28 minutes.