After the NBA Draft, the NBA offseason is officially underway and speculation on where stars like Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant will land is underway. The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be one of the teams scheduled to do some player shopping and may have their third star in Brooklyn Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell.
Russell is no stranger to the Lakers as he was drafted by the team near the end of Kobe Bryant’s tenure but traded after a rift with Nick Young over cheating on Iggy Azalea. The trade of D-Loading was one of the questionable decisions made by Magic Johnson during his run as the President of Basketball Operations, along with drafting Lonzo Ball as their replacement. Now that Magic is gone, Russell is reportedly open to a return.
A source within the Lakers organization not authorized to speak publicly has confirmed to me that the Lakers have strong interest in free agent guard D’Angelo Russell. I’m told the Lakers FO plan to have a face to face meeting with Russell at the beginning of free agency.
— Arye Abraham (@arye_abraham) June 21, 2019
A source close to the situation has confirmed to me that D’Angelo Russell has reciprocal interest in the Lakers “if the money is right,” I’m told he loves Los Angeles and has no ill will towards LAL now that Magic Johnson is gone.
— Arye Abraham (@arye_abraham) June 21, 2019
Is Russell the best piece to add to Anthony Davis and LeBron James?