D’Angelo Russell‘s strong play over the past few months – including 22.0 PPG and 6.8 APG with a .449 3PT% in his last 31 games – has made turning down his $18.7MM player option for 2024/25 and testing free agency a more viable option for the Lakers‘ point guard. However, he tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that his preference would be to remain in Los Angeles.
“I’d love to be here and continue to give it a run and be where my feet are now,” Russell said. “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.”
Even if he decides against picking up his player option, Russell could return to the Lakers, who would hold his Bird rights in that scenario and would be in a good position to sign him to a new contract.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who has been out since February 1 due to a left foot sprain, is ramping up his conditioning but has yet to be cleared for contact or to participate fully in practices, head coach Darvin Ham said on Tuesday (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic).
- LeBron James sent a text message to TNT’s Chris Haynes prior to Tuesday’s game, confirming that his absence vs. the Bucks was about managing his ongoing ankle soreness rather than any sort of setback (Twitter video link). “With my injury, I have to be very strategic and smart of how I manage the rest of the season with my ankle/foot in order to get to the finish line,” James wrote. “Whatever line that lies ahead.” According to Haynes, the expectation is that LeBron will be available against the Grizzlies in Memphis on Wednesday.
- With James out on Tuesday, Anthony Davis stepped up in a big way in Milwaukee, logging nearly 53 minutes and putting up 34 points and 23 rebounds in a double-overtime road win, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Austin Reaves chipped in with a 29-point triple-double to help lead the team to the comeback victory. “I just think we’re an unpredictable team,” Russell said. “So depends on which team you get, depends on which team we are defensively, offensively as a unit. Some guys are better than others (some nights). Some guys have bad nights. It just depends on what team we’re going to be. When we’re in full effect like tonight — obviously, no Bron — but, I think we’ll be hard to beat.”
Anyone watching the ref job in Milwaukee last night had to admit that the one sided officiating gave the Lakers the comeback win. Since the Feb 1 “less whistles” thing was supposedly put in place, the Lakers are +192 ftas, +8.43/gm, almost 2X the 2nd place team (Clippers, at +98, +3.92 per game)
Yeah, last night was bad. The Lakers have a team that does a better job drawing fouls than others between their rim-running, Davis being a physical beast in the paint, and Reaves being better at drawing whistles in general with the way he contorts to shoot as soon as he gets contact with an opponent, but there was no explanation for last night’s nonsense other than “the refs did a bad job”. The Bucks are second in FTA per game this year at 24.5 per game, but they fell well short last night. (The Lakers are 3rd with 24.2, surprisingly. The Magic are #1 at 24.7, weirdly enough).
The Bucks having twice the amount of personal fouls as the Lakers is where you can really see how one-sided it was. Granted, six came on Dame (who is a bad defender) and five on Middleton (who is rusty after missing so much time the past few seasons with injury), but that’s still a big discrepancy.
I’m still wrapping my noggin around the Lakers being called for a whopping 13 fouls in 58 minutes. Impossible. Rigged!!
I wonder if Silver can get L.A. out of the play in. Would be quite a feat.
Anyone paying attention to the comment section knows there’s bound to be Warrior fans diminishing every Lakers win. They shot 30-32 at the line. Ball don’t lie
Cavs fan who doesn’t like the Warriors for obvious reasons, and LeBron is my all-time favorite player. Still think the Lakers didn’t earn all of that. Some, sure, but the refs were on something in that game.
@ Jimmy Fitz:
But the ref help for the Lakers was massive.
Look at a shot chart dude. There isn’t some conspiracy to favor them. The everything is a conspiracy against whatever I prefer is so tired, especially today.
The Lakers have an always will get the Breaks. The NBA robbed the Pistons of a Championship with bad calls too. 2009 Celtics could also make a claim. Nothing new here.
Heck, go back even further to the West-Baylor years. The FT differential even then was ridiculous.
How about that playoff series vs the Kings in 2002? :D
The big question should be will Ham play AD more than 30 minutes in a back to back after playing 53 minutes. When players are tired they get hurt. So does ham risk AD getting hurt?
Bucks had that game. They couldn’t close it. And payed in OT for that. They were gassed in OT. You have to make stops. To close out games.
Reaves is the guy who brought them back. He never gave up. He was playing at end.
Bucks better get their D in order.
If you’re managing an ankle injury, why would you play against the Grizzlies after you sat against the Bucks? Seems like the extra day or two of rest would be beneficial… and as much as we love our Grizzlies here in Memphis, we’re not real hopeful at this point of defeating the Lakers with or without LeBron…
because it’s easier to put up stats against Memphis than Milwaukee
Also probably saving effort for the play-in and playoffs. Guarding Giannis, Middleton, and Portis, or the hodgepodge of Grizz youngsters? The latter is easier on his body and injury.
I guess, but if you’re going to sit out the Bucks, why not sit out the Grizzlies as well and get a little extended rest? Doesn’t seem like a difficult win for LA…
He’s not going to sit out if he thinks he can play without aggravating his injury. It’s just a pain management game at this point, because that same injury has been plaguing him since halfway through the 2020-2021 season, when Solomon Hill dove into his legs going for the ball. Sitting out extra games isn’t going to handle the healing process so much as reduce the strain he has to deal with. If that’s the case, it’s not really worth it to miss many extra games; the effective returns on that would be minimal. Surgery in the offseason is possible at this point.
Oh contract year for Dlo…
I’ve seen this story before…