3 players the Lakers should target in a D’Angelo Russell trade

There is a lot to like about the Los Angeles Lakers right now. Anthony Davis has been a one-man wrecking crew, LeBron James is a triple-double machine, and new head coach JJ Redick has taken a roster largely unchanged from a year ago and jumped out to a 7-4 start.

The Lakers are one of only three teams in the league that have not lost at home, but they have struggled to a 1-4 record away from Crypto.com Arena. That’s one of the reasons most around the league are skeptical they’re ready to step up to true contender status, but it’s not the only one.

While AD and LeBron seem to be playing at or near the peak of their powers, D’Angelo Russell has been a disappointment. The point guard was recently criticized by Redick for what his head coach called a “lack of competition,” prompting a move out of the starting lineup.

Between the play of LeBron and Austin Reaves (who have 9.4 and 5.3 assists per game, respectively), the Lakers have all the shooting they need. That lessens the need for a traditional point guard like Russell.

Russell picked up his player option this summer, meaning he will play this year on an expiring deal. There are few assets that rebuilding NBA teams demand more than a contract that is coming off the books, and with the Lakers having many of the components necessary to make a deep run, they can now look to trade Russell for a piece that would help them more down the field.

The NBA trade deadline isn’t until February, but Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka should already be on the phone with non-contending teams to try to upgrade LA’s roster. Here are three players he should call in a possible Russell trade.

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If the idea of ​​trading Russell to the Brooklyn Nets brings a strong sense of deja vu, it’s because we’ve seen this move before. Back in 2017, then-Lakers GM Magic Johnson sent Russell and Timofey Mozgov (remember him?) to the Nets in exchange for Brook Lopez and a first-round pick.

Cam Johnson is exactly the type of player the Lakers could use. He’s excellent beyond the arc (39.1 percent for his career), he’s a good defender and he takes care of the basketball to an extreme degree, recently setting an NBA record with seven straight games of 30+ minutes and zero turnover.

The best LeBron James teams have always surrounded him with shooters. Austin Reaves is reliable from deep and rookie Dalton Knecht looked to break out in Wednesday’s win over the Grizzlies, but other than that, there aren’t many shooters on this roster. Johnson would be a good fit, and he’s still under contract for two more years after this.

The Nets have surprised the NBA by looking surprisingly fresh so far. Their 5-7 record might not sound like much, but in an even weaker-than-normal Eastern Conference, it might be enough to convince GM Sean Marks that he should keep the team together to make a playoff push. That could complicate any possible Johnson trade, but with Cooper Flagg looming as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the bet is the Nets and others won’t push to contend.

There is almost always a catch for any team trying to acquire a star via trade. Either the trade target has worn out his welcome in his current home, he has an established injury history, or both. That makes any deal inherently risky.

Zach LaVine is the perfect test case for what kind of risk appetite Rob Pelinka can have. At his best, he’s an ultra-athletic wing who can turbocharge his team’s transition game and pour it in from the outside. At his worst, he’s too frail to stay on the field and “not a winning player.”

LaVine has been in trade rumors for what seems like forever, but an ankle injury that forced him to miss most of last season kept him in Chicago. However, he is putting his best foot forward at the beginning of this season, which increases the possibility that he will be dealt.

LaVine still plays above the rim, but he’s also shooting a career-best 42.6 percent from three. The Lakers could use his athleticism and shooting in a big way, and they can make a trade for Russell work by adding Rui Hachimura and Jalen Hood-Schifino.

Like the Nets, the Bulls have been surprisingly fun to watch this year. Unlike the Nets, the Bulls have never really gone all-in on tanking, which has kept them on the fringes of the playoffs for years now. Trading LaVine would immediately help their lottery chances, and while they don’t have much need for Russell with Coby White and Josh Giddey already on the team, they could re-gift him to a point guard-needy team for a draft pick and cap savings.

To make a deal, the Lakers must decide if they feel confident enough with LaVine’s health to bet their season on it. If they’re willing to take the plunge, this is the kind of high-risk, high-reward move that can really make a difference.

Sometimes you have to go back to go forward. The Lakers once employed Brandon Ingram, and with the Pelicans rumored to have traded him for some time now, Pelinka could swoop in and add one of the most underrated scorers in the game for a similar package to what it would take to land LaVine.

Ingram was a fine young player in his first three years in LA, but he has developed since joining the Pelicans. He averaged over 20 points per game. game for six straight seasons, and this year he has been one of the few bright spots on a New Orleans team that has faltered to a 3-9 record.

The Pelicans have been killed by injuries this year. Zion Williamson is out indefinitely with a strained hamstring. Dejounte Murray has been out since Opening Night with a broken hand. CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and Jordan Hawkins have all missed multiple games. Ingram and Jose Alvarado have been the only Pelicans regulars who have been able to stay on the court, but even Alvarado recently went down with a hamstring strain.

The Pelicans were hoping they would be able to contend this year, but it’s clear they’re in the middle of the year from hell. A pivot to the lottery is a no-brainer, and trading Ingram would help facilitate that.

New Orleans needs someone healthy enough to fit if they trade Ingram away, and Russell would be a good fit to fill in for Murray and Alvarado. Hachimura is a solid player who can eat up minutes but won’t make a difference in the win column, while Hood-Schifino could see the minutes develop on a team playing out of the blue.

It’s not hard to see how JJ Redick could use Ingram to great effect around LeBron and Davis. Trading Russell and Hachimura for Ingram could also open up a spot for Knecht in the starting lineup. LeBron at one point forward surrounded by Reaves, Ingram, Knecht and Davis would be one of the most potent offensive lineups in the league.