Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell is playing the best basketball of his career in his prime, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
This season, Russell has shot more efficiently than his All-Star campaign in Brooklyn, shooting 42.3 percent from 3-point range, which ranks third among players ranked in the NBA’s Top 25 in made threes per game.
Since Russell’s son, Riley, was born on September 24, 2022, Russell has averaged 18.0 points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 40.9 percent from 3-point range, 6.3 assists, and 3.0 rebounds with a plus-215 rating in 137 games.
According to Russell, the birth of his son helped him know his purpose in every game.
“Everything I do, I’d see his face,” Russell told HoopsHype. “It’s either this or that. What are you going to do? It makes my decision easy when it comes to anything. It does have a change and effect on you. It puts you in this state of mind that it’s mine or I’ll die for it. It’s been good.”
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Russell has an upcoming decision on his $18.69 million player option for the 2024-25 season and is considered one of the top free agents on the market should he decline to exercise his player option and become an unrestricted free agent.
“It’s definitely pressure,” Russell told HoopsHype when asked what it’s like playing in a potential contract season. “It’s something that can eat a lot of people up in the league. A lot of people can be too high at times and too low at times, which causes an emotional roller coaster through the ups and downs of the season. For me, I wanted to control that. I wanted to stay sane and stay even-keeled through the ups and the downs.”
While thriving under the pressure of a contract season, Russell could be of interest to several teams looking for point guard help during free agency this summer.
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The Lakers will be over the salary cap and a taxpaying team heading into this summer unless Russell and LeBron James decline their player options and leave as free agents, which is unlikely, leaving Los Angeles the taxpayer mid-level exception and minimum salaries to fill their roster in the offseason.
When asked for his thoughts on his free agency future, Russell told HoopsHype he’d like to remain a Laker.
“I’d love to be here and continue to give it a run and be where my feet are now,” Russell told HoopsHype. “Obviously, I’ve been on the other side of it, and I’ve been through the roller coaster of free agency and having to sit back and wait. I’m looking forward to not having to worry about that. I’ve been blessed enough to put myself in this position with my play. I’m definitely planning on taking advantage of that. When that time comes, I feel that everything will play out how it’s supposed to play out.”
In addition to setting a new Lakers’ single-season record for 3-pointers made (192 and counting) this season, Russell has played well for the Lakers at the end of games when it matters most. Russell has made 37.5 percent of the Lakers’ clutch time 3-pointers, and the Lakers are also a plus-22.2 per 100 possessions with Russell on the floor during clutch minutes.
Should Russell decline his option and become an unrestricted free agent, the Lakers would seemingly want him back, given his strong play this season and the team’s little wiggle room to replace his production and projected salary slot otherwise.
Nonetheless, other teams may need point guard help heading into free agency with the financial ability to make something happen.
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The Orlando Magic could potentially have $50-60 million in cap space, as HoopsHype’s Mark Deeks outlined in a previous article.
With Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs on rookie-scale contracts and Wendell Carter on a team-friendly deal, rival executives believe the Magic are a team to monitor this offseason to make a notable upgrade and improve their shooting.
Should Orlando have interest in Russell during free agency, he could play on or off the ball alongside Banchero, Wagner, and Suggs.
Russell is shooting 44.5 percent on catch-and-shoot threes and is averaging 1.25 points per possession on spot-up shots. The 28-year-old guard has also been efficient beyond the arc from either corner spot at 44.4 percent from the left corner and 41.7 percent from the right corner as a floor spacer.
Such shooting efficiency could open the lanes for Banchero and Wagner as playmakers.
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The San Antonio Spurs are projected to have between $20-26 million in cap space, per HoopsHype’s Mark Deeks.
While San Antonio is rebuilding, the Spurs have the flexibility to improve the roster and be more competitive around Victor Wembanyama, who has lived up to the hype and more as the expected Rookie of the Year.
The Jeremy Sochan point forward experiment and inconsistent role for point guard Tre Jones leaves the possibility that San Antonio could consider a more trusted and consistent floor general who can space the floor for Wembanyama to operate.
Jones is shooting a career-best (.338), and Sochan is shooting a career-best (.309) from downtown, but both are still underwhelming overall as floor spacers.
The Spurs would have to decide if the 28-year-old Russell would be a worthwhile stop-gap or long-term fit, given where the team’s roster is.
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The Utah Jazz have a theoretical $41 million in cap space, but there are caveats, as HoopsHype’s Mark Deeks recently wrote, particularly with Lauri Markkanen eligible and expected to discuss a potential renegotiation and extension, as previously reported by HoopsHype.
Since trading Mike Conley, Utah hasn’t consistently replaced his playmaking and shooting. Jazz combo guards Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson were both reportedly on the trade block ahead of the deadline and the team has since prioritized the development of rookie guard Keyonte George.
Utah will have to decide if George is going to be their floor general of the future and if they’re ready to part with one or both of Sexton and Clarkson.
For two straight seasons, Utah has acted as sellers at the trade deadline leaving rival executives to wonder when management will look to strike and add more talent to its young core. Currently, the approach appears to be continued patience.
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