Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell plans to opt into the final season of his contract with the franchise for the 2024-25 season.
Russell, who had until Saturday afternoon to decide on his player option, will have an $18.7 million salary for next season as part of a two-year, $36 million contract he signed with the Lakers last offseason.
Swish Cultures first reported Russell’s decision.
Russell averaged 18 points, 6.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 76 regular-season games for the Lakers last season, shooting 45.6% from the field and 41.5% on 3-pointers.
His 226 made 3s in 2023-24 is a single-season franchise record.
Russell, who was drafted by the Lakers in 2015 and reacquired by the organization ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, was at the center of trade discussions for most of last season after his disappointing performance in the Lakers’ 2023 Western Conference finals series loss to the Denver Nuggets.
His postseason struggles continued this past spring in the Lakers’ first-round defeat to the Nuggets, with Russell averaging 14.2 points and 4.2 assists but on 38.4% shooting (31.8% on 3s).
Jaxson Hayes also opted into the final season of his contract with the Lakers for the 2024-25 season, which The Athletic first reported.
Hayes, who’ll have a $2.46 million salary for next season, signed a two-year, $4.63 million contract with the organization last summer. He averaged 4.3 points and three rebounds in 70 games last season.
Russell, Hayes and Christian Wood opting into their deals puts the Lakers at 10 players signed to standard contracts.
This doesn’t include LeBron James ($51.4 million) and Cam Reddish ($2.46 million), who also have player options for next season, or first-round draft pick Dalton Knecht and second-round pick Bronny James.
James and Reddish have until 2 p.m. PT on Saturday to decide on their player options.
Max Christie, the Lakers’ second-round pick in 2022, is slated to be a restricted free agent.
If LeBron James, Reddish and Christie return, in addition to the signings of Knecht and Bronny James to their rookie contracts, the Lakers would have 15 players signed to standard contracts – the maximum allowed – signaling the Lakers could have a quiet free agency, or that they’d look for trades to shake up the roster ahead of the first season with JJ Redick at the helm.
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