To say that the Los Angeles Lakers will be faced with some tough decisions this summer will be an understatement. As it is, the front office is already in the process of making a monumental decision on the team’s next head coach, which unsurprisingly, is taking a bit longer than how some folks may have initially imagined.
And we haven’t even entered free agency yet.
Los Angeles Lakers News: D’Angelo Russell Still Expected to be Traded
Once free agency kicks in, one of the biggest items on LA’s plate will be the future of D’Angelo Russell. According to team insider Anthony Irwin of Lakers Daily, the team is intent on re-signing the former All-Star to a short-term extension. Their intention in doing so, however, is to make it easier to trade Russell away in the not-so-distant future:
“Now, the Lakers, I’m told, are going to try harder to make sure he takes a one-year deal that would be easier to move at the deadline, if not this summer, but are somewhat wary of his market given how he played in the regular season,” Irwin wrote.
Apparently, the Lakers remain determined to cash in on Russell as soon as they possibly can. He just doesn’t seem to fit what they’re trying to do in Hollywood, and it is now very much possible that he’s already played his final game for LA.
D’Angelo Russell’s Botched Deadline Trade
Irwin also confirmed that the Lakers tried and failed to move Russell during the February trade deadline. The major stumbling block was the status of the 28-year-old’s contract — an issue that LA will be able to address if they are able to convince him to sign a new one-year deal.
“Sources say the Lakers tried to trade him at the deadline, but no team wanted to acquire him because of the leverage he’d have heading into the summer with that player option,” Irwin wrote.
Finally, Irwin noted that the Lakers aren’t closing their door on starting the new season with Russell still on board. The team reportedly remains “open to running it back with the intent to upgrade at the deadline, hopefully with Russell on a large expiring contract.”
Either way, it seems that DLo’s days in sunny LA are numbered.
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