D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Boom! And he gets to still golf with AR. He’s got to be a better defender than Trae Young just by virtue of his height and reach and more in his back pocket PLUS “can” play off ball and shoot all around from deep HERE with this roster where he’s familiar and just shot career best VS what Trae did in Atlanta where He was familiar and NOT any good off ball …. rather preferring to pound the air out of it in his must have high usage fashion.

 

I mostly agree, but don’t think giving up the 1st was a big deal. The expectation was we’d have to give up a 1st just to dump Westbrook and that was when we weren’t expecting a package anywhere near DLo & Vando.

Giving up a 1st to get to the WCF and a decent coach away from at least the 2nd round this year isn’t a bad deal.

 

yeah, i'm more concerned with the salary slot.

i wouldn't give him a multi-year deal unless he was going sub-mle or something. he's just not reliable.

and i'm actually a fan; i just think it would be very hard for him to continue here after what's happened the past year or so.

i suppose if he said he was happy with a bench role and a team-friendly deal, but if i were him, i wouldn't do that.

 

(This is only if we don't do anything major with our backcourt this summer)

I don't think he's humbled enough to do it, but I'd be intrigued to know his thoughts on being a super sub. Maybe it'd depend on who's getting that nod ahead of him. I know.... he came off the bench when Ham went rogue but I'm talking about a fully bought in commitment and really enjoying the role of coming in to flame throw and being the #1 option in that unit.

Honestly, I'd rather he and Dinwiddie switch roles because you're not playing Dinwiddie off the court and if your backup gets played off.... they're a backup, no one cares. You'd have to dump Gabe to get enough minutes for DLO but if you're getting him minutes in mid 20s and have a coach who thrives at lineup optimization, it could be interesting.

 

He's just not a playoff player, unfortunately. 19 ppg on 36% shooting in the 2019 playoffs. 12 ppg on 33% shooting in the 2022 playoffs. 13 ppg on 43% in last year's playoffs, 14 ppg on 38% this year. His floor as a player is just too low when he's not making threes at a high clip to rely on him in the playoffs, and he'll always struggle against the increased physicality. Would be a great 6th man, but at his salary slot we probably need to flip him for a more reliable, well-rounded player even if that guy has a lower ceiling.

 

Was there ANY notice like this anywhere of anything that was done to penalize angry, again unhappy with his role, likes-to-fight Russ for his acts on the floor which initiated hostilities in the Dallas game, him throwing a punch and F-bombing the fans?

 

Our officiating is the worst it’s ever been with its extreme bias towards certain individuals, misuse of the replay system, and massive amount of phantom calls for many “stars.”
It’s never been perfect, but I’m just asking for something reasonable, not this.

 

I have the same feelings towards DLo. I like him, but the Reaves/DLo backcourt just doesn’t work. We HAVE to pair Austin with at least a League Average defender.
If we can’t work out a S&T, I think it would be a mistake to sign him for a long term deal. Nobody is going to give us a fair deal for him later in the season, so we might as well rip the band aid off now.

 

trouble is that dlo's offensive fit with both reaves and the stars is perfect. and finding someone with that quality who can also defend narrows your list to a handful of max players, if even that.

 

Well unless like Supreme Court deliberately slow walking an appeal …. apparently not. Nothing YET comes up. Un f****** real!! Someone from Silver’s office please explain that. He even bumped a ref as well (someone said that saw it)

https://www.google.com/search?q=Did...cHMC44LjAuMaAHyiI&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

 

Waiting to hear on PatBev

 

Irwin said the simular stuff this week on his pod that DLO is most likely opting out from what he's heard.

 

Bring him back! As if we have a choice lol

 

wonder if any S&T options might come up. i was the one saying that i thought he'd opt out, but over time i was questioning it. looks like my initial thought process was right. i just don't see him getting much of a raise on that number given who's got money. even with a s&t.

 

If he declines the option, we could use the non tax payer 12.9M MLE and just make sure we stay under the 179M apron. We might be able to get a decent player with it. Players we could potentially get:

1. Gary Trent Jr. (Klutch client)- He replaces Dlo's shooting, but he is also an upgrade defensively. I would consider him a B level shooting guard, defensively, vs. Dlo is D level.

2. D'Anthony Melton - A slight downgrade to Dlo in terms of shooting, but still a solid 37% for his career on good volume. Melton may be a B+ level defensive point guard though. Melton fits the mold of the prototypical Lebron James point guard (shooting, defense, low usage), and also would fit well next to Reaves (who tends to play better with the ball in his hands).

3. Jonas Valinuscius- Idk about clogging the paint any more and investing 12.9M in a minimal shooting center, but at least he is a big body center that could match up with Jokic for 25-30 mpg. Depends on how much of a problem Lakers feel that a need for a big bulky center is.

Maybe Bridges, but not ideal because of fit and off-court issues. He is a Klutch client though, and could use the Lakers platform for career/PR rehabilitation.

 

I think it's a control thing more importantly than the raise. He was talking about leverage in his exit interview. I think having the power is his priory this summer. Deciding where he goes instead of it being decided for him.

 

that's exactly what i was thinking before. but when i looked at the landscape, i was like...i don't know if you don't just take the money here.

my argument was that he's made a lot of money and seems to just want to enjoy playing. will he enjoy a bench role? how much will teams spend on him for that role? is there not a compromise that we could work with him to opt-in and trade to a situation he likes? that way he'd keep his bird rights, which could be useful.

 

The problem is there isn’t anyone better out there that is available without being fleeced. I still rather have that 18 per game and 41% shooting from 3