D'Angelo Russell, Star of the 2016-17 Lakers

Entering the final week of the preseason, the 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers are clearly D'Angelo Russell's team. Rookie Brandon Ingram may earn a great deal of attention, but the 19-year-old looks like a valuable member of the Lakers' promising second unit. Russell is the star for this team.

Russell wears the no. 1 jersey, is the Lakers' best scorer and serves as the team's starting and finishing point guard. Judging by his first six preseason performances, Russell is going to lead the team in scoring by utilizing his mid-range and long range jump shots. The NBA sophomore enters the final week of preseason averaging 18.2 points in 29.3 minutes per game and attempting over six three-pointers per contest.

"He can shoot the heck out of the ball; he sees the game; he has a nice flash about him when he gets going," Lakers coach Luke Walton said about Russell when prompted to find similarities between Russell's game and that of two-time league MVP Stephen Curry.

"Absolutely," Walton added when asked if Russell enjoyed the same "green light" that Curry takes advantage of when he's feeling his hot hand. However, the coach qualified that response when reminded that Russell has now begun to prove that he can drain shots from dangerous distances more than a couple feet beyond the three-point line.

"We might differ on what I view as a good shot and what he thinks is a good shot, but pulling up from four feet behind the 3-point line before moving the ball once, to me, is not a good shot," Walton said, while still promoting the idea that Russell and every other player should take any open, good shot without hesitation. Often, Russell will shoot from three or four feet behind the three-point line this season, and yes, those will be considered good shots.

In his rookie season, Russell initially seemed to struggle with the added distance from the extended NBA three-point line, but the former Ohio State Buckeye took that weakness and quickly transformed it into his greatest strength.

"People have to run out and contest you on the three point line," Russell spoke to NBCLA.com about the importance of the three-point shot during training camp on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. "Sooner or later, you're going to be able to go around them because they're anticipating the three-point shot, and it's going to make everything open for passes and slicing the defense up."

Russell said he focused on developing his long range game because of how he saw teams exploiting weaknesses in the playoffs. In the serious undertone of his words, one could read that Russell is focused as much on the current season as he is on his entire NBA future. Even if Kobe Bryant's final season potentially slowed Russell's growth, the work ethic and the long term game development Bryant proudly preached has permeated through to the next generation.

"It's got to be challenging; he's starting point guard for the LA Lakers," Walton said about Russell back on Oct. 7, following a preseason loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Walton, who earlier commended Russell for continuing to pass and work on setting up the offense, added, "I think he's naturally a scoring point guard. I think that's naturally who he is as a player, but he wants to win, so he's willing to play the right way and play how the coaches are asking him to play, which is to move the ball on."

The game after Walton comments, Russell scored 33 points. One game later, he missed all nine of his attempts from beyond the three-point line in an overtime game. Walton's response was to encourage Russell to keep shooting.

"Next time, I'll assume they go in," Walton had said in his post-game comments, which rubbed Russell the right way.

However, the coach also softly mentioned that Russell should have probably looked to involve his teammates on a night when his shot clearly would not fall. The kid hardly lacks confidence, and he seemingly also inherited Bryant's short-term memory approach to shooting. The toughest part of missing nine three-pointers is attempting the ninth three-pointer after missing the first eight.

When he arrived in Las Vegas for a quick preseason diversion in the desert, the no. 2 pick of the 2015 NBA Draft scored 31 points and dished out 11 assists in 33 minutes against the Sacramento Kings. On the night, the Lakers lacked energy and failed to turn up, but the young point guard produced arguably his most balanced individual performance since joining the Lakers. As a reminder, Russell's career-high in assists is eight, which he only accomplished on one occasion. If he continues to progress and grow as a play making point guard that forces teams to pressure him beyond the three-point line, Russell could conceivably average eight assists for at least one month of the upcoming season.

Only a couple exhibition games away from the start of the 2016-17 NBA season, Russell is already emerging as an early pick for the NBA's Most Improved Player award. For the 2016-17 NBA season, the preseason has clearly revealed that Russell will be the lead star of the 2016-17 "Lake Show."