The Los Angeles Lakers got better this offseason through the draft and NBA free agency. Let’s clear that up to start. However, the offseason hasn’t been perfect, despite achieving almost everything the franchise needed to achieve to make one last title run with the LeBron James and Anthony Davis core. Still, of all the moves they made, the one big Lakers free agency mistake was re-signing D’Angelo Russell.

Why the one big Lakers free agency mistake was re-signing D’Angelo Russell

Oh, D’Angelo Russell.

First, let’s give credit where credit is due. Russell was an important player for the Lakers last season down the stretch, eating minutes and scoring points after the NBA trade deadline deal that sent him from the Minnesota Timberwolves back to his first NBA team in LA.

In 17 regular season games, Russell averaged 30.9 minutes per game along with 17.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 2.9 rebounds, while shooting a blazing 41.4% from 3-point range.

When LA made the trade for Russell (among others) on February 9, the team was a putrid 25-31. Then, after 25 games with the new bench at an 18-8 pace, the team finished 43-39 to make the play-in tournament, beat Russell’s old mates in Minnesota 108-102 in overtime, and officially make the playoffs.

That’s when the issues — the same old issues — with Russell began (again).

Russell is not a winning player overall, especially in the playoffs. He takes too many shots, he doesn’t play enough defense and doesn’t do the little things it takes to win a championship in the NBA.

In the 2023 playoffs, Russell’s numbers dipped dramatically across the board. His minutes per game dropped a bit to 29.6 as Austin Reaves and Rui Hachiumra got more time on the court, but his points (13.3), assists (4.6), and 3-point percentage (31.0%) all slipped way more than his minutes.

After that, as NBA free agency approached and D’Angelo Russell became an unrestricted free agent, it seemed like the writing was on the wall that Russell’s second stint with the Lakers was about over. That seemed even more apparent when the Lakers drafted Indiana combo guard Jordan Hood-Schifino, a player whose offensive skills are similar, and who has the potential to be a much better defender than Russell.

Then, when the Lakers started free agency, they re-signed Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Plus, they inked a deal with former Miami Heat point guard Gabe Vincent, who, again, is better defensively and can facilitate better (although not score as well) than Russell.

All this should have added up to the Lakers letting Russell walk away, just like they did with Dennis Schroeder. However, the Lakers did, in fact, re-up Russell, to the tune of two years and $37 million.

Now, this D’Angelo Russell contract isn’t a massive mistake. It’s a smaller one. Because of who Russell is, the need to get Hood-Schifino playing time, and the championship goals of the Lakers, Russell isn’t a great signing.

Russell is a liability on defense, he takes too many shots, and he hangs onto the ball for too long. The fact that he can take a lot of shots during the dog days of the regular season and take some pressure off of LeBron James and Anthony Davis then is fine. But in the playoffs, he’s way too easy to stop with a decent game plan from the other team, and that’s a problem.

All that said, he’s making $17.7 million this season, which could be a nice mid-sized contract to package together with someone like Hachimura if LA wants to go after a $30 million-plus player. After that, Russell is a $19.2 million expiring the next season, and that’s not bad at all.

Signing D’Angelo Russell — especially to a multimillion, multi-year deal — was a mistake by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. He could have used that money on another player (maybe even Dennis Schroeder) or combined it with the Gabe Vincent money and went after a Fred VanVleet-level player.

Maybe all of that wasn’t available, and that’s fine. There is some value to signing Russell if he plays as well during next season as he did in the last. Plus, his trade value isn’t nothing.

In the end, this signing is the biggest Lakers free agency mistake by far. But that’s pretty good in the grand scheme of things. Pelinka did an excellent job in NBA free agency and should be commended overall. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company should be better off next season than they ended last season (and certainly better than they started that campaign).

That said, it’s no fun if you can’t criticize anything the team did this offseason, right?