D'Angelo Russell has watched his name swirl in trade rumors for basically the entire 2023-24 season, and the Los Angeles Lakers will have a tough decision to make on the future of the 27-year-old ahead of the impending NBA Trade Deadline.
The Louisville, Kentucky native has spent a lot of time on the bench during this campaign, but he's been excellent since returning to the starting lineup. Russell has averaged 27.2 points over his last five games.
Due to this resurgence, what seemed like a guarantee to trade Russell has now become more complicated.
“In a one-for-one deal involving Russell, the Lakers doubt they'll be able to find any player to fully complement [LeBron] James and [Anthony] Davis the way Russell's floor spacing and court awareness on offense does,” ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported on Tuesday.
“It will become clear soon enough whether Russell's improved play of late will help his chances of staying on the roster, or whether this hot streak is merely upping his trade value.”
It's no secret that DLo is on a phenomenal contract; he's making just $17.3 million this season and has an $18.7 million player option for next year, per McMenamin.
“However, he is also the same player who was benched in the conference finals last season, and the Lakers got him to waive the implied no-trade clause his contract included when they re-signed him last summer — not something you push for as an organization if you have the utmost confidence you'll want to keep the player through the deadline,” the NBA insider asserted.
Anthony Davis addresses rumors
Here's what Anthony Davis had to say on Sunday about the continued trade rumors ahead of the Feb. 8 deadline:
“I have no control of what the front office does, but we can't worry about that in a locker room. We focus on what we have right here and try to get wins and try to win with what we have.
“Once you start listening to all the rumors and the outside noise, it can cause some, I don't want to say ‘division' in the locker room, but it gets in players' heads who are in those rumors and just the uncertainty of what's going to happen. The best thing you can do is just not even worry about it and just play, and I think that's what we're trying to do right now.”
The Lakers have been playing .500 basketball as of late, and it'll be intriguing to see what moves the front office makes ahead of the deadline. Will D'Angelo Russell still be in Los Angeles on Feb. 9?
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