The Los Angeles Lakers have been the subject of many rumors leading up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. Most of them have involved veteran guard D’Angelo Russell.
Specifically, Russell has been bandied about as one of the pieces potentially heading to the Atlanta Hawks in a blockbuster trade for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham made some news with roughly 24 hours to go ahead of the deadline, indicating that Russell had undergone some type of procedure and missed practice on Tuesday. He’s considered questionable for Thursday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN notes that a Lakers spokesperson attempted to clarify things by indicating that it was more of a treatment than a procedure.
The timing of this news is what makes things so darn interesting. A Lakers official deeming it necessary to provide more clarification adds another layer to this.
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Things up in the air for the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of NBA trade deadline
At this point, Russell is the only veteran asset Los Angeles can move that would help make salaries work in a potential trade. Any team acquiring him would want more clarification behind the scenes in order to pull off a deal. That complicates things big time for Los Angeles.
All of this comes at a time when LeBron James is reportedly putting pressure on the Lakers to make a big move ahead of the deadline. Los Angeles currently finds itself at 27-25 and as the ninth seed in the Western Conference. As currently constructed, it can’t be seen as a legitimate conference title contender.
It was this time last season that James also put pressure on the Lakers’ brass to make a move. They obliged, ultimately leading to an appearance in the Western Conference Finals.
There is no telling whether that will be the case over the next several hours. What we do know is that this update on Russell makes a trade less likely.