A lot of rumours have been floating around about the Los Angeles Lakers before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. The majority of them have featured D’Angelo Russell, a seasoned guard.
In particular, Russell has been mentioned as a possible trade partner for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray in a massive deal including the Atlanta Hawks.
With just a day to spare before the deadline, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham announced that Russell had missed practice on Tuesday due to an unspecified surgery. He is regarded as doubtful for the Denver Nuggets game on Thursday.
A Lakers representative tried to set the record straight by saying that it was more of a treatment than an operation, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
What makes things so damned interesting is the timing of this announcement. This takes on even more significance when a Lakers official feels the need to elaborate.
Russell is currently Los Angeles’ sole experienced asset that may be moved to help make salary work in a possible deal. Any team interested in acquiring him would need further backroom details to clinch a deal. That greatly complicates matters for Los Angeles.
LeBron James is allegedly pressuring the Lakers to make a significant move before the deadline at this very moment. With a record of 27–25, Los Angeles has the ninth seed in the Western Conference. It cannot be considered a serious contender for the conference title as it stands.
James also applied pressure to the Lakers‘ leadership to act around this time last season. They eventually made an appearance in the Western Conference Finals as a result of their compliance.
Whether it remains the case over the next few hours is impossible to predict. We do know, though, that a deal is now less likely as a result of this Russell update.
