The free agent market in the NBA dried up many days ago, and therefore, if the Los Angeles Lakers are to significantly improve their roster, they will have to pull off at least one trade.
They do not have a lot of attractive trade assets. Per league rules, they’re allowed to trade up to two future first-round draft picks right now, and those picks could have some real value.
As far as players are concerned, the Lakers are actively shopping starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, according to The Athletic beat writer Jovan Buha. Russell opted into the final year of his contract earlier this summer, perhaps because the free agent market for him was very tepid.
The Lakers are looking to trade D’Angelo Russell, per @jovanbuha pic.twitter.com/TR7CvPYtpL
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 26, 2024
Russell had an excellent regular season by averaging 18.0 points and 6.3 assists a game while shooting 41.5% from 3-point range. He played particularly well starting in mid-January, as he put up 20.8 points a contest while hitting 43% of his 3-point attempts in his final 41 regular season games.
But once again, he underperformed in the playoffs. In general, he’s seen as too slow for the modern game, as well as lackluster defensively.
If the Lakers somehow manage to upgrade from Russell by getting another ball-handling, facilitating guard in a potential trade, it could greatly raise their ceiling.