Lakers News: LA Clearly Looking To Trade Veteran Starter

But is there a market for his services?

Apr 16, 2023; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) reacts with guard Austin Reaves (15) during the second half during game one of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers' brutally uneventful 2024 offseason has not gone unnoticed.

Los Angeles team president Rob Pelinka re-signed a pair of L.A. free agents, 20-time All-NBA combo forward LeBron James and fringe rotation piece shooting guard Max Christie, and drafted two guards, former All-American Tennesse Volunteers shooting guard Dalton Knecht and former USC Trojans point guard Bronny James. Pelinka also let reserve combo forward Taurean Prince depart in free agency to join the Milwaukee Bucks, while watching backup point guard Spencer Dinwiddie return to the Dallas Mavericks. That is the sum total of his moves.

But that doesn't mean the team has been inactive.

As Jovan Buha of The Athletic notes, Los Angeles has been looking to trade starting point guard D'Angelo Russell basically since the moment he picked up his $18.7 million player option for 2024-25. Why the team wanted to give him a player option for next season at all in free agency is a mystery to this reporter.

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report writes that two straight seasons of horrific playoff performances seem to be the most glaring issues of Russell's Lakers resume.

In 2022-23, Russell averaged 17.4 points on a .484/.414/.735 slash line, 6.1 assists (against 2.3 turnovers), 2.9 rebounds and 0.6 steals during his 17 healthy regular season contests for the club, upon being traded there from the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Russell Westbrook three-team trade with Minnesota and the Utah Jazz. Why the Lakers didn't just do a two-team deal with Utah for Mike Conley is anyone's guess. Across 16 playoff games for L.A. in 2023, Russell averaged 13.3 points while slashing .426/.310/.769, along with 4.6 assists (against 1.8 turnovers), 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 steals.

In 76 regular season games during the 2023-24 season (69 starts), the OSU product averaged 18.0 points on .456/.415/.828 shooting splits, 6.3 dimes, 3.1 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks. During this past spring's playoffs, his numbers collapsed again, to 14.2 points on a .384/.318/.500 slash line, 4.2 assists, and 2.8 rebounds.

"They're poking around for upgrades and apparently haven't found what they're looking for yet," Buckley writes. "Whenever they do, though, Russell will surely be let go in the exchange. They'll probably need his salary to make the money work if it's any kind of substantial swap, and he should have at least modest market value for his on-court work. Flaws and all, he was still one of just seven players to average 18 points, six assists and three three-pointers last season."

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