The Los Angeles Lakers continue to lurk around the edges of free agency and the trade market with a handful of assets they can use to jump on the right opportunity.
Among the trade chips in the Lakers’ proverbial back pocket are a couple of unprotected first-round picks and the expiring contract of former All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell.
Trade proposals swirl around L.A. every summer, and many that NBA writers have floated this offseason include Russell as a primary salary piece, allowing the money to work in any number of potential deals. Jovan Buha of The Athletic officially confirmed on Friday, July 26, that Los Angeles has been shopping Russell since he picked up the $18.7 million player option on his contract on June 29.
“[The Lakers] have been shopping him and trying to move him since he opted in,” Buha said during his “Buha’s Block” podcast.
That Russell is playing in a contract year next season increases his trade value, as his salary will come off the books of whatever team he plays for next summer, which will allow that franchise to clear salary cap space it can use to pursue higher-end free agents.
However, Russell has also been a quality offensive piece for Los Angeles. He finished last season third on the team in points per game (18.0) and third in minutes played (32.1) ahead of fellow guard Austin Reaves, who is fourth in both categories with 15.9 points and 29.7 minutes nightly, according to ESPN statistics.
D’Angelo Russell Has Proven Quality Scorer, Floor Spacer for Lakers’ Offense
GettyLos Angeles Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell.
While moving Russell has been a popular part of almost every solution to the Lakers’ three-star problem — namely that they don’t have one, but could obviously use one — he has provided the shooting the offense needs to space the floor around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Russell is a career 36.9% shooter on 6.9 attempts from behind the 3-point line over the course of his nine-year career. He has hit 38.1% on 6.0 attempts in 236 games for the Lakers across the last two seasons, per Basketball Reference.
He’s also added 15.7 points, 4.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest for L.A. and was part of the team’s run to the Western Conference Finals in 2023. Russell will turn 29 years old next winter, approximately two and a half weeks after the league’s February 6 trade deadline, which is the latest date the Lakers can move him ahead of summer 2025.
Trae Young Among Players Lakers May Be Able to Target Ahead of NBA Trade Deadline
GettyTrae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The primary question remaining for Los Angeles is who the team can interest in first-round picks four and six years from now (2029, 2031) that might also be willing to take on salary to better position itself for free agency next summer?
The two strategies are somewhat at odds. Most organizations looking for a free-agency splash aren’t necessarily concerning themselves with moving off a high-end player in the present for potentially valuable draft assets years down the road.
One team that may fit the bill is the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks dealt Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this summer and selected 19-year-old French hooper Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in June.
The franchise is clearly reorganizing and playing the long game in what has suddenly become a top-heavy Eastern Conference with serious title contenders in the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and possibly the Milwaukee Bucks.
As such, star point guard Trae Young may not fit the Hawks’ timeline on a $215 million maximum deal that keeps him under contract through the 2026-27 campaign. Young plays the same position as Russell, and while he brings some of the same serious concerns on the defensive side of the court, he’s one of the best playmakers in the NBA and can score in bunches.
Young would help ease some of the ball-handling and playmaking duties currently on James’ shoulders as he enters his age-40 season off of a run through Summer Olympics in Paris. The hypothetical deal isn’t perfect for the Lakers, but they may not be able to find a better one over the next six months.
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