Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell found his name mentioned in several trade rumors leading up to the 2024-25 season. Initially, reports suggested the Lakers tried to trade him to the Golden State Warriors in a potential deal for Klay Thompson, who ultimately joined the Dallas Mavericks in a sign and trade.

In September, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported that the Lakers do not consider Russell a key part of their future plans.

“If the Lakers aim to become the championship contending team everyone expects, they ideally need to replace D’Angelo Russell with someone who can shoot threes and play defense,” Bontemps noted.

“Austin Reaves is clearly viewed as a core player moving forward, unlike Russell, who signed a two-year provisional deal and opted in this summer, realizing there was limited market interest.”

Following the Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a fan asked The Athletic’s Jovan Buha if Russell might be traded, and he shared his perspective.

“I don’t want to overreact to this game,” Buha said. “This game mostly confirmed what we already knew. I think the plan is still to assess the D- Lo situation down the line. If there’s a trade, he’s likely the candidate.

“If the Lakers start off strong, it could play out two ways. They might avoid disrupting the team or decide to go for a win-win trade by putting first-hand picks on the table,” Buha continued. “If they remain competitive, they may consider attaching a first-hand pick to players like Gabe Vincent or Jarred Vanderbilt, depending on his injury recovery.

The goal could be to bring in another piece and either keep D-Lo or adjust his role, depending on who joins. Right now, though, I don’t think this game changes much regarding Russell.”