The Los Angeles Lakers have run back the same roster, more or less, for the 2024-25 season. Though they have the same roster, that doesn’t mean they’ll run the same rotations. They could change things up with starters like D’Angelo Russell.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale proposed in an August 22 story that the Lakers bring Russell off the bench. He explained why such a change could make sense.
“The Lakers remain light on ball-handling as well as creation and shot-making when LeBron is off the floor. DLo already features in a lot of those combos. Bringing him off the bench more evenly distributes the roster’s offensive creation, and the Lakers can always get him run with the starters if he’s the right closing-time option,” Favale wrote.
He then explained who could fill in as the Lakers’ starting point guard instead of Russell.
“Trotting out a healthy Gabe Vincent or Max Christie in DLo’s stead could still result in a killer
starting five overall, with the added benefit of weaponizing secondary lineups and arming Los Angeles with a more wire-to-wire package.
“To be sure, this isn’t one of the changes that doubles as a mandate. It’s more like a musing that seems worth a try.”
Russell made an All-Star team in 2019 and hasn’t been awful since the Lakers re-acquired him from the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, a bench role for him could give them a better balance.
The Risks of Benching D’Angelo Russell
Favale explained that this proposed lineup change isn’t foolproof because the Lakers have benefited from starting Russell.
“There is nothing inherently wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers’ starting unit from last year. They were the team’s most-used lineup on the season and outscored opponents by 6.6 points per 100 possessions.
“Keeping it intact doesn’t just make sense. Switching it up is a dice roll. Subbing out DLo, specifically, could backfire. He is coming off a season in which he drilled 41.5 percent of his 7.2 three-point attempts per game. Yanking that outside touch from a quintet that didn’t deliver elite offensive returns poses all sorts of risk,” Favale wrote.
For all of Russell’s faults, he can score, and he’s third in the Lakers’ pecking order. His presence helps LeBron and the others offensively.
D’Angelo Russell Has ‘Neutral-to-Negative’ Trade Value
Though Russell has proven himself a scorer, the Lakers may want a player(s) better than him. However, despite their interest in an upgrade, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha explained why they haven’t found a market for him and other players.
“D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, they have somewhere between neutral to negative trade value across the league,” Buha said on the July 16 episode of “Buha’s Block.” “There are certain teams that have interest in maybe one of those guys, but there are very few if any teams that have interest in multiple of those guys, and that’s ultimately been why the Lakers have been not able to find a deal.”
Because the Lakers have title aspirations and a small window with James, teams want to take advantage of that. It’s all a matter of how desperate the Lakers could get.
