3 early predictions for Lakers at the NBA Trade Deadline
The Los Angeles Lakers entered the season with NBA Championship aspirations after making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season, but have gotten off to just a 16-14 record. As of Christmas Day, they’re ninth in the Western Conference, just one game ahead of the 11th seed which would have them missing the Play-In Tournament entirely.
The Lakers did win the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament earlier this month, but have won just two of the seven games they've played since. LeBron James not playing in two of those games obviously hurt, but it's abundantly clear that if the Lakers want to make another long run in the playoffs they're going to have to be active at the NBA Trade Deadline.
There's little reason to believe Rob Pelinka will choose to do nothing at the deadline after all the magic he pulled off last season. Here's an early prediction of how the deadline will go down in less than two months.
3) The Lakers will trade D'Angelo Russell
The Lakers re-acquired D'Angelo Russell at the 2022-23 trade deadline and he wound up playing a huge role, taking over as the team's starting point guard and helping them get to the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, Russell really struggled in the playoffs, averaging just 13.3 points per game on 42.6% shooting. Those struggles seem to have carried over into this season.
The Lakers brought Russell back this past offseason on a two-year deal worth $37 million. The deal seemed like a no-brainer at the time, but things have gotten so bad for him to the point where he was taken out of the starting lineup in their victory in Oklahoma City. Russell played just 17 minutes in that game. He played well, but it's certainly notable that the Lakers got the win against one of the Western Conference's best teams on the road with Russell taking a much smaller role.
Russell has always been a streaky scorer, but that has especially held true this season. He has seven games scoring over 20 points including dropping as many as 35 in a game, but has also six games in which he couldn't even crack double figures. You just never know which version of D'Angelo Russell you're going to get, which is incredibly frustrating.
With Russell falling out of the starting lineup, the Lakers will look to move on from him entirely by the time the trade deadline rolls around. Who they acquire in return remains to be seen, but both sides would probably benefit from a Russell deal taking place.