Getty D'Angelo Russell
Los Angeles Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell will miss his fourth straight game on March 3 against his former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Ohio State product told Dave McMenamin of ESPN on March 1 that he’s still not ready to play.
D’Angelo Russell will miss a fourth straight game Friday against Minnesota because of his right ankle sprain, Russell told ESPN. Asked if Sunday vs. GSW was a potential return date, Russell said, “We’ll see once we get through Friday.”
Russell sprained his right ankle on February 23 against the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter and didn’t return to the game. The lefty played just 8:48. The injury occurred when Russell stepped back to inbound the ball under the basket and stepped on the foot of Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo.
“Wrong place, wrong time definitely,” Russell said after the Warriors game. “Pretty unlucky for me. Players roll their ankle all the time. I don’t do that often, so it’s obviously new. It is what it is. Not really worried.”
Russell is averaging 17.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists on the season while shooting 46.4% from the field, 38.9% from beyond the arc and 85.0% from the free-throw line with the Timberwolves and Lakers. The one-time All-Star is putting up 13.5 points and 5.0 assists per game in four starts with Los Angeles.
Bleacher Report: D’Angelo Russell Will Be Lakers’ Biggest X-Factor in LeBron James’ Absence
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey believes Russell will be the Lakers’ biggest X-factor in LeBron James’ absence. James is expected to be out for multiple weeks with a right foot injury. For the Lakers to stay afloat while James is out, Russell and Anthony Davis have to take their games to another level.
“If Russell can continue to produce at that level while owning the middle of the floor with the version of Davis who was flirting with MVP candidacy earlier this season, there’s at least a prayer. AD had a 13-game stretch in November and December in which he averaged 32.4 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.2 steals,” Bailey wrote on February 28. “Russell will defer to AD as the No. 1 option, but his ability to hit pull-up jumpers, play with pace or patience as a ball-handler and hit Davis on the roll or spray out to shooters will lend L.A.’s offense some competence in LeBron’s absence.”
The Lakers are in 12th place in the West. They are one game out of the 10th spot and three games out of the sixth spot. The top six seeds in the conference automatically qualify for the playoffs, while teams 7-10 make the play-in tournament.
Lakers Icon Magic Johnson: D’Angelo Russell ‘Has Really Grown & Matured’
Lakers icon Magic Johnson, who traded Russell to the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2017 when he was in the front office, told Bryan Kalbrosky of For The Win in February that Russell “has really grown and matured.”
“I think D’Angelo has really grown and matured,” Johnson said. “He can score the basketball. He can pass the basketball. He doesn’t turn it over a lot. That’s what I like about him, too. That pick-and-roll with Anthony Davis is going to be special. You have to pick your poison for what you try to do whether it’s Russell coming off the PnR or Anthony Davis rolling to the basket and they’ll have some more time playing with LeBron. If the Lakers can get in, and I think they will, nobody is going to want to play them. That’s for sure.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on February 15 that the Lakers and Russell have mutual interest in a contract extension. Russell becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
“Both the Lakers and D’Angelo Russell have already expressed to each other an interest in starting conversations on a contract extension,” Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown. “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.”