Point guard D’Angelo Russell was a mid-season acquisition for the Los Angeles Lakers, and he was solid offensively for the team in the regular season. However, his inconsistencies have shown in the playoffs, and his future with the team is definitely unclear as of right now.
In a recent report, Lakers insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic revealed that the Lakers could potentially retain D’Angelo Russell back on a contract that ranges from $18-$20 million noting, that it is “hard to justify” giving him a better contract based on his production in the playoffs.
“I think Los Angeles can squeeze Russell closer to the $18 million to $20 million range annually.”
“Every dollar is going to matter with the new CBA increasing the penalties for teams that exceed the luxury tax. The difference between Russell at $18 million and Russell at $25 million annually could be consequential. If Russell performed better in the postseason, this would be a different conversation. But on multiple nights, he was the Lakers’ fifth- or sixth-best player behind James, Davis, Reaves, Hachimura and sometimes even Schröder. It’s hard to justify paying him anything over $20 million annually.”
There is no doubt that this would be a solid contract for a starting-level point guard in the league. The question is whether the Lakers believe that he can be a quality starter deep in the playoffs, and we’ll know the answer to that really soon.
In the playoffs, D’Angelo Russell averaged 13.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 4.6 APG for the Los Angeles Lakers. It is clear that this was disappointing, and could definitely affect the contract he gets in free agency.
LeBron James Wants The Lakers To Replace D’Angelo Russell With Kyrie Irving
The Los Angeles Lakers could end up getting a new point guard in free agency due to D’Angelo Russell’s inconsistencies. In fact, a previous report revealed that superstar LeBron James wants the team to replace point guard D’Angelo Russell with Kyrie Irving.
“LeBron James wants the Lakers to replace Russell with Irving, sources told Heavy Sports. However, Los Angeles doesn’t have the cap space to sign Irving, who is looking for a max contract,”
It will be interesting to see if the Kyrie Irving move does come to pass for the Lakers. As of right now, it is clearly unlikely, but we have seen stranger things happen in the league.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
