NBA insider Tim Bontemps spoke on the Hoop Collective podcast about the Lakers and D’Angelo Russell. He noted that the Lakers only signed him to a two-year deal in 2023 because they didn’t believe him in the long term, citing his defensive weakness as the reason. Bontemps added that D’Lo took up his player option this offseason rather than test free agency because he didn’t have much of a market.
“At the end of the day, if the Lakers are going to be a championship-contending team that people want them to be, what they really need to do is turn D’Angelo Russell into a guy who can both hit threes and guard.”
“Austin Reaves is clearly a guy who’s part of their core going forward, D’Angelo Russell is not, which is why he was on his two-year makeshift deal in the first place… It’s why he opted into his contract this summer because he knew there wasn’t a big market for his services.”
(23:16 onwards)
Bontemps clearly has some degree of insight into the Lakers’ thought process, and provided that in the episode. And in fairness, what he says makes a lot of sense. Russell has been inconsistent at best as an offensive player for the Lakers, and an outright poor defender.
On top of that, Russell’s bad outings in the playoffs have proven to be costly for the Lakers and they’ve suffered because of it. For Russell, he got lucky that he had a contract option this offseason, otherwise, he would have struggled to find a new team in free agency.
Russell could be one of the players on the trading block for the Lakers, as they clearly don’t see a future with him on the team beyond this season. With his two-year, $36 million contract with the Lakers coming to an end, he might have his best season in years, regardless of team, to ensure his NBA future is somewhat secure.
Can The Lakers Trade D’Angelo Russell For Zach LaVine?
In recent weeks, Zach LaVine’s name has popped up in trade discussions with the Lakers. LaVine is currently on year three of a five-year, $215 million contract. Many consider this to be one of the worst contracts in the NBA, but a motivated LaVine could make the Lakers a very strong team.
A hypothetical trade between the two could see the Bulls send Zach LaVine, along with their 2029 first-round pick draft to take on LaVine’s massive contract, in exchange for the Lakers sending D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Jared Vanderbilt, and Christian Wood as salary filler.
This deal would help the Bulls offload the expensive and lengthy contract of LaVine, and get some solid role players and future assets that they can use to commit to a rebuild. While they will have to give up a draft pick, it is a short-term cost for them to guarantee long-term gains.
Will D’Angelo Russell stay a Laker for the rest of the season? It remains to be seen, but his contract and status on the team have most analysts leaning towards a trade.
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