The Los Angeles Lakers pulled the plug on having D’Angelo Russell as part of the team in the 2024-25 NBA season. Before the New Year, the Lakers traded Russell and Maxwell Lewis to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Like his stint with the Los Angeles team, the 6-foot-4 guard has another shot with a former team.
Russell averaged 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 29 games while playing with the Lakers. After being reduced to a bench position and only starting ten games, his role began to wane. Nevertheless, head coach JJ Redick stated that the squad will still miss him despite his poor performance.
After the team’s New Year’s Eve game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, where they suffered a 122-110 loss, Redick reflected on the Lakers missing Russell.
“Loved coaching DLo,” Redick said. “I told you guys this before, I spent more time with that guy and on the phone this summer, on the golf course. I told him many times that I want a great outcome for him and I’m hoping he has a great rest of the year.
“We’re gonna miss his playmaking,” Redick added, “We’re gonna miss his ball-handling. We’re gonna miss his shooting. He’s had several games, including recently the second game in Sac (Sacramento), the Portland game here, where we don’t win those games without him.”
Russell was one of the best playmakers on the team as he’s third in assists per game for the Los Angeles Lakers with 4.7. However, his shooting woes overshadowed some of the positive things he did on the court. For the Purple & Gold team, he made 41.5% of his shots from the field and 33.3% of his 3-pointers.
Russell addressed the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade
This is the second time the Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell to the Nets. The first instance happened after his sophomore season. which stemmed from the locker room issue he had with Nick Young. The recent trade doesn’t faze him anymore as he’s dealt with it in the past.
After the trade, Russell spoke to the media and revealed that it’s slightly easier to transition to the Nets. Given that he’s played for the organization before, there aren’t a lot of things he need time to figure out.
“It’s just like getting traded any time before that. You’ve got to adjust,” Russell said. “So it’s been an adjustment for me, learning the players, learning the coaching staff, learning Brooklyn’s new ways. A lot’s changed since I’ve been here. So just trying to adjust and jump right in with these guys.”
“It’s a good feeling, honestly, to go back somewhere you’re comfortable, somewhere you kind of know the ins and outs a little bit. See some familiar faces. It kind of makes the process a little easier to adjust to. So, I’m just grateful for that.”
In his first game for Brooklyn, Russell had 22 points and eight assists in a 130-113 loss against the Toronto Raptors.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
