Lakers News: Latest on Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell

With an exciting new head coach, a budding young core and the addition of some veteran free agents, the Los Angeles Lakers appear confident that they can start building something special for this upcoming season.

The team held its annual media day on Monday the day before training camp officially begins, and there are plenty of newsworthy headlines surrounding the Lakers. They return quality young talent in Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell while welcoming head coach Luke Walton and experienced free agents Jose Calderon, Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov.

In the first day of the post-Kobe Bryant era, Los Angeles will have varying expectations for its emerging stars. Some players have an increased comfort level with the organization while others will be adjusting to new roles, but here are three storylines to note for this Lakers team as the preseason kicks off.

Russell Already Buying Into New Coaching Staff

In order for the Lakers to continue growing, they need their star point guard to thrive in Walton’s high-pace, floor-spacing system. It appears Russell is on his way towards doing just that.

The second-year guard raved about Walton on Monday and in the days leading up to media day, as he seems to be fully on board with what his new coach is bringing to the team, as are his teammates. As a result, Russell has a new sense of confidence heading into training camp, per Joey Ramirez of the Lakers’ official website.

“I feel like everybody’s buying in and wants to take steps forward in winning and coming together as a team,” Russell said. “I’m really looking forward to going into training camp with that one year under my belt as experience. … Just going into training camp, I know what to expect and I’m kind of prepared.”

Walton also has confidence in his young floor general, saying Russell has the skills to become a leader of the Los Angeles team, per Ramirez.

This is a far cry from last year’s relationship between Russell and former head coach Byron Scott. The two were rarely on the same page, with Scott routinely benching Russell in favor of veteran players. After Scott was fired, he called Russell “entitled” on The Dan Patrick Show (h/t CBSSports.com) while Russell said the …

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