Getty D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles up the court.
The Los Angeles Lakers are removing D’Angelo Russell from the starting lineup in favor of Jarred Vanderbilt, according to Anthony Irwin of Blue Wire Pods and Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.
The move came on the heels of Russell’s shooting struggles and his puzzling comment about his defensive play.
“If I’m not making shots, they’re going to depend on me just to get a stop. That’s where I work, that’s where I try to be better, but it’s not what I do. Doing that is an extra, and it’s where my focus is, but knowing what I do, that’s something that I know as well,” Russell told reporters after the Lakers’ 118-111 loss to his former team, Minnesota Timberwolves.
With his shots not falling — 35% shooting over the Lakers’ last five games — his defensive deficiencies have become more pronounced.
Russell’s defensive struggles are what made him unplayable in the playoffs. And after a solid start to the season, shooting 50% overall and 45% from 3 in November, his shot fell off the cliff. In December, the 2015 second-overall pick is shooting only 37.5% overall and just 27.5% of his 3s after Thursday’s loss.
This makes him the weakest link of the Lakers starting unit. It also amplifies the trade rumors centering around him as the February 8 trade deadline approaches.
Kendrick Perkins Trashes D’Angelo Russell
Russell’s poor play on both ends of the floor prompted ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins to urge the Lakers to trade him for next to nothing.
“Right now, I would trade D’Angelo Russell for a box of Christmas-scented candles and a lifelong supply of Christmas lights,” Perkins said during a recent episode of “NBA Today.” “That’s how horrible he’s been…We’re talking about D-LO, a guy who could go out every night and get you a dub.”
“The Lakers need scoring. They need to take the pressure off LeBron [James]. They need pressure taken off Anthony Davis…You gotta look at D’Angelo Russell because he’s been too inconsistent.”
Russell had three single-digit scoring over the Lakers’ last five games.
D’Angelo Russell’s Trade Value Takes Further Hit
His poor play, along with the emergence of Coby White in Chicago makes a Zach LaVine more complicated to accomplish for the Lakers.
The Lakers would need a third team to reroute their starting point guard in any potential package for LaVine, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.
“I think that’s where this is likely headed if it happens: a three- or even four-team deal,” Buha wrote in a discussion with his The Athletic colleague, Bulls beat reporter Darnell Mayberry.
Russell headlines the Lakers’ potential package for LaVine, along with a combination of salary fillers, and a protected pick, according to Buha.
Finding the third team to absorb Russell or to flip both Russell and the Lakers’ future pick for a win-now talent might give the Bulls a pause, especially with more teams emerging as potential trade partners.
Kings, 76ers Interested in Zach LaVine
Two playoff teams loom as the Lakers’ biggest threats in their potential run at LaVine as the February 8 trade deadline approaches.
“The Sixers are continuing to look at the marketplace,” said Shams Charania on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on December 21. “Look at their asset pool: three first-round draft picks they can trade. They have a bunch of contracts … So Zach LaVine, OG Anunoby, those are two names to keep an eye on as guys that Philadelphia has monitored, has a level of interest in.”
Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes reported that the Kings, alongside the Lakers, are monitoring LaVine’s situation. In 2018, the Bulls had to match the Kings’ four-year, $78 million offer to LaVine, who was a restricted free agent at that time.