D’Angelo Russell may be the player that the Lakers look to move on from this winter given the horrible run of form he’s been since the end of the In-Season Tournament. With trade rumors surrounding the Lakers, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins believes the Lakers need to get rid of Russell as soon as possible.
“It’s about D’Angelo Russell. Right now, I would trade him for a box of Christmas candles and a lifelong supply of Christmas lights. That’s how horrible he’s been.”
"It's about D'Angelo Russell. Right now, I would trade him for a box of Christmas candles and a lifelong supply of Christmas lights. That's how horrible he's been."
Kendrick Perkins sounded OFF on the Lakers guard's inconsistent play lately 👀pic.twitter.com/uVhyQB8k5v
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 21, 2023
Perkins tends to exaggerate his points on television, but wanting to see Russell gone is something that many Laker fans have expressed recently. He’s averaging 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists over the last seven games as the Lakers have been struggling. After losing their fifth game over the last six, it seems impatience in the LA front office will be growing.
Russell is a versatile combo guard who can play both on and off-ball for the Lakers offensively. However, his defense has been non-existent this season and his offense has fallen off drastically.
LA had an option like Dennis Schroder to start over him last season when Russell fell off in the playoffs, but their backup isn’t that good this season. Gabe Vincent has been hurt and has his rhythm to find, putting the Lakers in a spot where they have to depend on D’Lo.
Given all the trade rumors D’Lo has been in, it’s clear the Lakers want to see what he can get them instead of playing out the season with him.
Lakers Want To Move D’Angelo Russell Over Austin Reaves
At the start of the season, Russell and Reaves seemed to have opposite fortunes. Reaves was struggling while Russell emerged as a stable guard presence that could score somewhat consistently. After Reaves was moved to a sixth-man role, he has been playing well and averaging 15.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists off the bench. Russell hasn’t come close to matching those numbers over December.
It was reported that the Lakers are being asked to give up Austin Reaves in any trade with the Bulls for their stars. However, it seems the Lakers are dead-set on offering up D’Angelo instead.
“For LaVine specifically, I think the Lakers would consider a D’Angelo Russell-centric deal, but I don’t think they’d throw in much more than a combination of salary filler (Rui Hachimura and/or Gabe Vincent), a young prospect (Max Christie or Jalen Hood-Schifino) and a protected pick (2029 or 2030 first rounder).”
Zach LaVine will provide more consistent offense but won’t have the same backcourt flexibility that Russell brings. At this point, it seems most people would happily accept that trade-off due to Lavine’s offensive ceiling being much higher. Russell is fighting to keep his career in LA alive right now, and it could fall apart in the next month or so.
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