Getty Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell.
The Los Angeles Lakers have decided to run it back with many of the players who were on last year’s roster, including guard D’Angelo Russell. Despite a playoff drop-off that saw him average 13.3 points a game compared to 17.8 points a game during the regular season, the team gave him a two-year contract worth $36 million this offseason.
However, his contract is more interesting than it may have initially seemed. According to a July 10 tweet from Spotrac’s Keith Smith, Russell has waived his right to veto any trade the Lakers attempt to include him in this season.
D’Angelo Russell’s new two-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers is guaranteed for $36M, a league source told @spotrac. The second season is a player option.
Russell has $700K in incentives in each season of the deal.
In addition, Russell waived his implied no-trade clause.
With Russell waiving that right, there’s nothing stopping the Lakers from potentially trading him prior to this season’s trade deadline.
Insider Previously Reported Los Angeles Lakers Could Look to Trade D’Angelo Russell During Season
If things get off to a rocky start for D’Angelo Russell during the season, there is bound to be trade speculation. The signing of guard Gabe Vincent in free agency will give the team some flexibility at the position if they decide to move on from Russell. Prior to the guard signing, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported on June 16 that a future trade could certainly be on the table for Russell.
“One framework the Lakers have discussed internally, according to multiple team sources not authorized to speak publicly, is signing Russell to a front-loaded two-year deal—either with an option in the second year or a straight two-year contract. … Their preference is to find a superior player by either sign-and-trading Russell elsewhere in July or, more likely at this point, re-signing him and then potentially trading him later in the season for a better player or fit,” Buha wrote.
Concerns With D’Angelo Russell’s Reliability on Defense
D’Angelo Russell has always been a solid offensive player. He averaged 17.7 points a game and 5.7 assists over his career. However, there are concerns about his ability on defense. In a July 10 piece for the Los Angeles Times, Dan Woike spoke to a number of NBA executives and he came away with the impression that teams aren’t high on the guard’s performance on the defensive side of the court.
“With Russell, there were still big questions about his reliability on the defensive end for a team with championship aspirations, the last memories of him struggling in the conference finals still fresh,” Woike wrote. “The talent, though, is there and the belief is the Lakers could find a trade partner if necessary because of his two-year deal with a player option in the final year.”
Now, Gabe Vincent is a solid defender and can help pick up the slack on the side of the court. Russell’s shooting and offense make him a valuable piece. In 17 regular season games with the Lakers last season, he made 41.4% of his threes. Los Angeles has struggled shooting from beyond the arc and Russell should be one of their top shooters. Vincent is only a 33.9% career 3-point shooter. It remains to be seen what trade option could materialize once the season is in full swing but Russell is a player to watch heading into the year. Based on his willingness to waive his no-trade rights, it doesn’t appear he’d be completely opposed to trade.