Is this the right call?
The Los Angeles Lakers are said to be interested in retaining prodigal son D’Angelo Russell beyond this year, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 6’4″ point guard was first drafted by LA in 2015 with the No. 2 pick out of Ohio State, and played alongside Hall of Fame LA shooting guard Kobe Bryant in the latter’s final year in the league. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets during the 2017 offseason, with whom he became a one-time All-Star. Following stops with the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves, D-Lo once again finds himself a Laker, this time next to two other all-time greats, forward LeBron James and center Anthony Davis.
With LeBron James back in the team’s lineup, the team performed admirably last night in a 120-102 blowout of the New Orleans Pelicans. Russell’s ability to space the floor (he’s made 39% of his 6.9 triple tries this season) and create plays for others, plus his scoring acumen inside, make him a solid addition to a Lakers team with renewed playoff aspirations.
Russell, currently on an expiring $31.4 million deal, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer if no agreement is reached before the end of the season.
“Both the Lakers and D’Angelo Russell have already expressed to each other an interest in conversations on a contract extension,” Woj revealed. “Russell could be a free agent this summer, but the Lakers traded for him, giving up as part of that package a first-round pick, two second-round picks, not to be a rental, but to be a solution at that point guard position. So expect D’Angelo Russell and the Lakers to really start engaging on those extension talks here in the next weeks and months into the offseason.”
It sounds like LA is hoping to have landed its point guard of the future, provided he continues to play well. He’s averaging 17.3 points on .450/.375/.769 shooting splits, 5.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds across his three games with LA, during which the team has gone 1-2. In those two losses, however, the Lakers were without All-Star James, which makes a significant difference.
What number would fit for Russell, who at 26 is just entering his prime, but seems unlikely to be anything more than an occasional fringe All-Star? Would he settle for something along the lines of Andrew Wiggins’s recent four-year, $109 million extension with the Warriors, which seems like a good benchmark for solid starters?
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