In a somewhat surprising but understandable development, according to Hoopscritic.com writer and Sirius XM radio host
In taking to people around the league on who has been made available in trade talks a very surprising name has come up: DeAngelo Russell
— Brian Geltzeiler (@hoopscritic) January 28, 2016
At 9-39, the Lakers are an unmitigated disaster. Kobe Bryant‘s impending retirement frees up money and a roster spot, but it doesn’t ensure a big-name free agent like Kevin Durant will join the club like many Lakers fans automatically assume. Other than the allure of playing in the second-largest sports market for arguably the most popular team in the NBA, signing with the Lakers isn’t incredibly appealing considering the way the team is currently constructed.
At most, the Lakers have four or five guys on the roster who are worth keeping around. Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle have the most upside. Lou Williams is a nice starter/sixth-man type, and rookie PF Larry Nance Jr. could be a solid piece as the third-man in a frontcourt rotation.
Clarkson has the ability to move over to the two if needed, but the Lakers are said to like him better at point guard than they do Russell, whose had a number of schisms with head coach Byron Scott and has underwhelmed over the first half of his rookie campaign. In 26.9 minutes per game, Russell’s averaging 12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists, which is mediocre at best.
Despite a somewhat disappointing rookie showing, Russell could bring the Lakers quite a haul back in return, as he’s still thought of as having the potential to be an All-Star one day and will be playing on his affordable rookie deal in the immediate future. The strategy would be to sell high now to protect themselves from the event that Russell fails to meet expectations again next season and loses a tremendous amount of value on the block.
When you play in a market like Los Angeles, selling your fans on a multi-year rebuild isn’t easy to do — especially for the Lakers, who have seen their roommates, the Los Angeles Clippers, make the playoffs in four consecutive seasons, with a fifth on the horizon.
The Lakers might simply feel like waiting for Russell to blossom will take too long and elect to attempt to expedite their rebuild by getting a number of players and/or picks in return, which makes plenty of sense from both a basketball and business standpoint.
