The Los Angeles Lakers have to be perfect with their top 2015 first-round pick. While the allure of Los Angeles, its market and the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle are a big draw for many star athletes, few stars want to have portions of their careers wasted on subpar franchises when they don't have to. We're living in an era when star players are more cognizant of their legacies now more than ever.

Because of this movement toward teaming up, the Lakers' No. 2 selection in the 2015 NBA Draft has to be a star. It's why when they opted to go against conventional wisdom of taking the big-man prospect in Jahlil Okafor and went for the lead-guard option of D'Angelo Russell, there was a universal nod of approval at the Lakers.

It's not because everybody knows the Lakers made the correct pick. We have a long time to go before we get to the bottom of that choice. It's because the Lakers are gambling on the new era of basketball with the guard and the perimeter being the most important part of the game.

Despite outdated comments regarding perimeter importance from Lakers coach Byron Scott the past year, the potential of Russell becoming a star was too big for LA to pass on. His command of the pick-and-roll is the first thing that stands out when you watch his game.

While involving Kobe Bryant in the offense will be key for however long he's able to remain on the court next season (it's rough watching the injuries pile up right now), there will be dozens of possessions in any given game in which Russell will find the ball in his hands with the shot clocking dwindling away. It's in those moments the Lakers will feel comfortable with their rookie finding scoring opportunities.

Watch Russell in the pick-and-roll and you notice a comfort we see with guards like Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and James Harden -- lead guards with great patience in how they attack and wait for the defense to make a mistake in their coverages. There were few players in college basketball who were more lethal in pick-and-roll scoring situations this past year than Russell.

There were 61 players in NCAA Division I who ran at least 150 pick-and-roll possessions that ended in a shot, free throw or turnover. Russell was the fifth-most efficient scorer of that group, scoring 0.97 points per possession on a 53.9 effective field-goal percentage.

The pick-and-roll has become one of the most basic and yet difficult sets to defend in the NBA. And the Lakers were heavy users of it under Scott as a coach. The Lakers were the 20th-most efficient pick-and-roll team in 2014-15, but only seven teams ran more pick-and-roll possessions.

The primary pick-and-roll guard for the Lakers was Jordan Clarkson, the second-round steal acquired by Mitch Kupchak. Clarkson was a pleasant surprise on offense, but in running the pick-and-roll 35.8 percent of the time for his possessions, he wasn't very efficient. He went from scoring 0.918 points per possession his last year at Missouri to scoring just 0.834 as a rookie for the Lakers. A big part of this was the fact that he's simply not a 3-point threat in this situation.

Of his 212 shot attempts coming from the pick-and-roll, Clarkson was 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) on 3-pointers. That's a good percentage, but an almost nonexistent rate of taking 3s out of the pick-and-roll. Of the 116 shots Russell took at Ohio State in the pick-and-roll, he was 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) on 3s. He made more 3s in nearly half the overall field-goal attempts than Clarkson even took altogether.

You can see by their Shot Analytics charts just how different their overall attacks were and where they scored the ball the most and the most efficiently.

In every way the Lakers needed a rookie like Clarkson to save their offense, Russell can do that, and do it for more points and excel in the process of doing it efficiently. It's not that Clarkson isn't a good player. He was given an impossible situation to succeed as a rookie and did the best he could, which was a good job. It just illustrates the potential Russell has to be a dynamic game-changer for the Lakers' offense.

Russell's presence not only gives them a 3-point threat in the thing they do the most, but he opens up the floor for everybody by being a magnetic scorer the defense can't stay away from. In doing so, he takes pressure off Kobe to be that ultimate scorer and he allows Clarkson to come into a smaller but important role as the combo guard off the bench (assuming Scott has the sense to start the rookie).

The Lakers had the 23rd-best offense during a season saturated with injuries and broken rotations. By bringing in Russell along with a healthier Kobe, a steadier role for Clarkson and whichever free-agent big man they can add to the frontcourt with Julius Randle, the Lakers should expect to be near or in the top half in the NBA in offensive efficiency.

It's not that Scott's system didn't have the capabilities of yielding efficient scoring opportunities last season. It's that when the Lakers worked down to the end of the shot clock, they didn't have a bailout option who could find big points. Russell, even as a rookie, should be able to provide that punch for them. In so many ways, he was the perfect selection for the Lakers.

D'Angelo Russell pointing the only direction the Lakers can go. (USATSI)
D'Angelo Russell pointing the only direction the Lakers can go. (USATSI)