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The Lakers will be back at it on Day 3 of NBA free agency, already having seen a number of their top options head elsewhere and getting a bit more desperate to make a move that can help keep them relevant in the Western Conference—where several teams have taken some hits in recent days, perhaps creating an opening for the Lakers to exploit.
One issue the Lakers must attend to before all else though is settling on the roster. The team was hopeful that some of its end-of-benchers with player options on their contracts might have opted out and created a bit more roster flexibility, but with the likes of Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish deciding to stay on their current deals, the Lakers roster stands at 14.
One guy still has to re-up: LeBron James. There’s no doubt that James will do so, meaning that the Lakers have 15 players on the roster and will need to unload someone.
That could come down to another player who opted into his contract, D’Angelo Russell, who could have hit free agency this summer but instead stuck with the $18.7 million option the Lakers had given him last year. Of all the Lakers’ trade chips, Russell seems the most likely to go. And he could wind up making a familiar trip, from L.A. to Brooklyn, where he was traded by the Lakers back in 2017.
D’Angelo Russell Trade Back to Brooklyn?
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Russell is still a valued commodity in Brooklyn, and even with the Nets in the very early stages of a rebuild, Fischer reports that the Nets would welcome Russell’s return to the team for which he made the All-Star team in 2019.
Wrote Fischer: “While LeBron James has indicated a willingness to take less salary, sources said, in order to help Los Angeles add more talent to a roster that fell in the first round of the playoffs, time seems to be running out for how long James is willing to wait before securing his next deal.
“For the Lakers to bring on DeRozan, Los Angeles may have to work with a third team to offload some salary, such as D’Angelo Russell or Gabe Vincent, sources said. The Nets have been open to welcoming Russell back to Barclays Center since this past trade deadline, sources said.”
Lakers in Need of a Lot of Cooperation
James’ relative patience with the front office is important because he has the option of commanding a full maximum salary on a three-year contract from the Lakers, worth $162 million. Or he can take less than that and leave enough room for the Lakers to use their midlevel exception to sign another player. But James, according to reports, would only do so if the Lakers would ad a high-quality player with the money.
The high quality players are coming off the board, though. Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan has been the latest rumored possibility.
Still, sending Russell to Brooklyn, and perhaps packaging him with another player in a two-for-one deal is one way that the Lakers could create the roster space to make a midlevel move. It would require cooperation from the Nets. And James. And DeRozan, or whichever player wins up slotting into that exception.
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