D’Angelo Russell scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting (including three treys) with five boards, two assists, one steal and one block over 34 minutes in the Lakers’ 102-91 loss to the Raptors on Friday.

Russell is going to struggle for much of the year and a lot will depend on how hard Byron Scott rides him, which could easily be enough to knock down what little upside he has even if he’s playing a full boat of minutes.  Efficiency and defensive issues are at the top of the list, and he really needs to take cues from Kobe on his killer instinct because the tape isn’t pretty with this young rook.