NBA Trade Rumors: Lakers ‘prefer’ to move on from D’Angelo Russell?
NBA Trade Rumors: Are the Los Angeles Lakers hoping to move on from D’Angelo Russell this offseason?
After making an unlikely run to the Western Conference Finals, it would be easy for the Los Angeles Lakers to simply run it back next season. It would be an easy sell to the fan base and would make sense from a basketball perspective to a certain extent as well.
However, at least heading into the offseason, that may not be the team’s ultimate hope. It seems that if there’s a path to significantly upgrade the roster this summer, the Lakers are going to explore it. Even if it comes at the expense of a few players on the roster – likely not named LeBron James, Anthony Davis, or Austin Reaves.
One player that they could elect to move on from is D’Angelo Russell. While he played an important role for the Lakers at certain moments throughout the team’s magical run to the conference finals, he was flat-out unplayable against the Denver Nuggets.
Because of that, there are major questions when it comes to his future with the team. So much so that, according to a recent report, the belief is that the Lakers would “prefer” to move on from Russell via a sign-and-trade this offseason.
Although, that could be easier said than done.
D’Angelo Russell’s future with the team depends on the Los Angeles Lakers’ options
In many ways, Russell’s future with the Lakers is largely going to be dependent on what options are available for the Lakers this summer. If there aren’t many workable or realistic replacement options out there for Los Angeles, it would be extremely surprising if Russell wasn’t back with the Lakers.
In no world would the Lakers let him walk in free agency. And if he does leave, you’d have to imagine that a sign-and-trade would work best for Russell and for the Lakers. But that would mean finding a team that is willing and able to pay Russell a big-money contract.
Russell is likely going to seek a long-term deal this offseason and it would be extremely surprising if it were for anything lower than $20 million per season. Quite frankly, it could end up being a lot closer to $25-30 million per year.
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Nevertheless, the Lakers are an interesting team to keep an eye on heading into the offseason. And Russell is just one piece of what could possibly end up being one great chaotic puzzle for the Lakers.