Former NBA All-Star D’Angelo Russell was part of the initial set of trades that began a miraculous turnaround for the Lakers. Playing in the place of Russell Westbrook, D’Lo’s shooting and shot-making was huge for a Lakers team that needed some offensive fire all season long.
Sadly, Russell became nearly unplayable against the Nuggets due to his poor defense and ill-advised shot selection. Now, as an unrestricted free agent, D’Angelo is facing a crossroads in his career and he’ll have to decide how to respond after being benched late into the playoffs.
D’Angelo Russell on moving to the bench in Game 4: “It was tough. It was tough to agree with it.”
Russell said despite that, he didn’t want to be a distraction to his team and wanted to be a professional about the situation.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 23, 2023
Lakers coach Darvin Ham tried his best to accommodate Russell and wait for him to start playing better, but many fans argue that he should have sent D’Lo to the bench much earlier than he did. For now, it looks like Russell handled it as well as anyone and he’s still committed to a long-term future with the Lakers.
“As far as the future goes, I have no idea. I think when you put a group out there that knows the game and everybody wants the same goal, I think you’ll have some success,” said Russell. “We made it to the Western Conference Finals. I think Rob Pelinka has some decisions to make, not mine. Would love to be here and be able to tend to it and contribute to that. So, we’ll see.”
D'Angelo Russell credited his basketball IQ for allowing him to adjust to the Lakers' system on the fly. He said he "would love to be here" going forward pic.twitter.com/VvlyOGQCtj
— michael corvo (@michaelcorvo_) May 23, 2023
Russell’s inconsistency drove Lakers fans mad and it would make more sense for Pelinka to seek someone who can deliver on a more regular basis. The problem is, besides Kyrie Irving and maybe a few others, there aren’t many players available right now who would be an upgrade over D’Angelo.
What Will The Lakers Do This Offseason?
This season was considered a massive success by many across the NBA community, and the Lakers should be proud of how far they were able to go despite their early struggles. But if they want to build a squad capable of going toe-to-toe with the Nuggets and other elites, the Purple and Gold will need to go all-in on adding as much talent as they can.
So while trading Russell may just be part of the equation, you can bet the team will be thinking long and hard before coming to a final decision.
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