D'Angelo Russell opts in: Will the Lakers trade him soon? 

Whoever we trade d lo for is going to be the new scapegoat, they talking about trading for kuz!! Didn’t we just go through this a couple years ago with kuz, that he doesn’t fit well with AD and bron. Lakers always treat our players like trash and when they leave and play well somewhere else we start crying to get them back. D lo isn’t the perfect player, but he’s also not a bad player if the right deal isn’t out there we should just keep him

I love DLo!! ❤ Unless it is a no-brainer deal, keep him…. We need shooters and as someone else pointed out, he was our most consistent last season. With the addition on Knecht, they should move up from the bottom of the league in 3pt attempts per game while maintaining or improving (hopefully) their 3pt FG%. JJ should be able to figure out how to use shooters better (Ham not so much).

The problem with getting rid of DLo is he is the only player on the team whose game is completely disconnected from Bron and AD. When Bron and AD get off to slow starts on offense DLo the only player whose offense don’t suffer. He is the bridge until everyone else settles in by the 2nd quarter.

D'Lo opting in is HUGE! If we don't find the right trade with him, we can keep him until the trade deadline to eat up some innings of the regular season

Straight and to the point. Subbed!

DLo was one of my favorites when he was a rookie. He still is. I'm surprised by how dense the Lakers are. It's like they spend far too much time listening to social media. Let DLo play the point guard spot. Period. We don't need Lebron at the point. When he plays point, the other players just stand around at the 3-pt line. And to be honest there's no need to claim that Austin Reaves is "untradeable". No team in the league will give up an All-Star for him. You take Lebron off the floor, and Reaves is a bench player. He's already hit his upside, and defensively he is probably the slowest person on the team. DLo could have gone into free agency and someone would have picked him up for a good price. Teams always need point guards. They don't always need players like Austin Reaves. We need to start playing centers and stop trading for them and then benching them. Move AD to PF, which is where he wants to play anyway. It works for Milwaukee with Giannis, and Minnesota with Towns. We also need to stop scapegoating PGs. We suddenly want Schroeder back, but the media complained about him all the time. We ran DLo out of town and end up with Lonzo Ball, and we all know what a disaster that was. And I'm sorry...but hearing Austin Reaves saying the team needs to be more defensive-minded, especially considering that teams intentionally went after him after seeing how sorry his defense was, doesn't speak much for his basketball IQ.

Coach JJ new system Knecht 4 will make a impact Vando coming back healthy Gabe coming back healthy Rui putting in work this season (per IG) AR will improve as a defender Only thing Lakers should do is pickup a Center. Then reevaluate the team near the trade deadline. IN ROB WE TRUST

Quigley at 17 pts a game and no All-star and no conference appearances gets 5 yrs 175 million. But DLO gets 18 million per with no long term contract. DLO has an allstar appearance and a ROY with playoff appearances. The disrespect on DLO is REALLY unfair.

Smarter move is to keep DLo until the trade deadline to see if they need to do a mid-season adjustment to make a run. JJ might scheme things better and a little backcourt defense at the 2 helps DLo a ton and opens up the offense. Besides, who is available that would have a trade now make sense?

Everyone talking about Jerami Grant at this point is tripping. Did not impress last season and is overpaid. Why is everyone trying to waste assets on DFS? 🤦🏽‍♂️ Cam Johnson is chopped. Please don’t bring back Kuzma! If they trade DLo, they need to get a guard back. Also, if LeBron James does not take a pay cut, then I don’t want to hear complaints from him or his camp ever again.

Say what you want about DLO, but there’s nothing more fun to watch than when he gets hot from 3. I want to see what this team looks like now with a competent coach.

None of the guys you’ve mentioned make the team better. I don’t think the lakers can trade a playmaker like D Lo & with his shooting for these serviceable 3 & D guys. Grant is def no especially with his contract. They need a playmaker/ shooter in return. Not sure who that is but no way is Jeremy Grant a guy you trade D Lo for. Then what?

Dlo averaged 14ppg in the playoffs Austin 16ppg not much of a difference honestly

we need dlo, if we can get anyone good, dlo can let that 3 ball fly 🔥

Jovan, I truly love your content in the Athletic and I love watching your videos. Thank you!!

Yes sir got our 3rd best player back

Ifwe don't trade him, we are essentially stuck with the same roster.

Dude was a net + in all playoff games this year except for that one game stupid Ham made him exclusively a catch and shoot and bail us in the last second of the shot clock guy. Why are you blaming DLo for the playoff collapse anyway? Blame the coaching staff for not countering Denver in the 3rd quarter of games. We had a comfortable lead by each half of the games we lost. They came back by the end of the 3rd quarters.

He made 226 3's at 41% last season keep him

LAKERS" get Klay Thompson a good veteran power forward for the minimum. Lakers v Celtics 2025 NBA finals i'm calling it . What a rivalry and time to be alive

I hope to god JJ & staff smart enough to remember Dlo damn near took nets to playoffs by himself. How darvin was allowed to give prince a bigger role than him is beyond me. Both are gone, give dlo the damn ball and let him go to work.

If DLO having a 38% FG + 32% 3PT shooting split for his CAREER don't tell he's not that guy. Then Pelinka needs to get fired ASAP. Last Time I checked it's CHAMPIONSHIP or bust. Not Western Conference Finals or let alone "1" win against Nuggets. SMH

Lebron needs to be the starting PG If the lakers end up trading D-Lo. I would try trading him for a foward who can shoot, lauri markkanen or Jermai Grant.

I have said it before go get Ivey an attacking multi facet sg and Stewart and backup Big who is gritty for Dlo JHS and Wood may have to attach a pick or swap. Det gets a shooter next to cade which they desperately need. Lal get a young sg with upside who can defend. This the trade that makes sense. I would then go after Cam Johnson using Vando Gabe Lewis pick. Vando's playoff performance from a yr ago is not enough to warrant keeping him when he can't stay healthy and has no offense. Val for full MLE sign a vet pg for backup.

Better defender for sure!

Jovan buha buha good to see again my friend puerto rico in the house we lose murray hes the want the i want i hope the make changes because the sucks have i good day my friend

Do you know who else was bad in the playoff? Who else got targeted on defense? AUSTIN REAVES!! DLO was clearly the 3rd best player on last season's team (that includes Reaves) but we are targeting DLO. If Cam Reddish opts in this the sane team as last year. That is the real problem.

If the Lakers don't think Lauri from Jazz good enough I'm done. U offer the picks for him. An take that protection off russ trade first. He loves Lakers picks. Former Boston GM

LAKERS BACK COURT WILL BE DLO & KLAY 🎯💯🔥🔥🔥

Dwight Howard we need u again !!!!😅

lakers should make a significant offer for anferenee simons 😮

They just need 2 bigs and 2 3&d wings that can shoot and score in all 3 levels . Trade Jhs for Walker Kessler , sign Jonas Valancciunas , Trade D’lo for Cam Johnson , trade Gabe Vincent for Dorian Finney Smith

The west is getting better while pelinka sits on his ass and does nothing ! Kobe would've fired his ass already !! Every year all we hear is excuses from this guy ! He gets paid a lot to get things done and he ain't !!! Jeanie gotta look for someone else!

Never should have acquired him in the first place. He needs to go, but, knowing Laker Management, they won't get crahp for him.

Keep dlo ! I think jj can turn him into a dawg

Trade Austin Vandy Cam and D lo..all avg. Ni D And not going to improve much.. and Austin needs to get in the weight room lol

Stop saying dont move Reaves he is not a starter in this league a good roll player off the yeah but they need to trade reaves if they dont want to get swept again or not make it out of the play in

Where the BUHA BUHA eccentric intro?

Klay Thompson come get a ring with the Lakers

Man I'm only trading him for a home run and that's it. Dejounte trade wouldn't have even cut it tbh I'm glad he's off the table. Everyone acting like DLo is trash. He is actually a great fit for this team

Christian Wood is not a Center. He's barely a 4

There really going to run it back.... this ish is wild 🤦🏾‍♂️

Lakers need to trade DLo and Hayes. We need a better center

early asf

I say they keep dlo and work a sign and trade with the Bulls for Derozan and Drummond. Dlo, Reaves, Derozan, Bron, AD to me is a solid lineup to have under JJ. It's offers a powerful offense. Imagine Derozan in the half court driving and working the midrange. He can run pick and roll with AD. Pick and pop with AD. He is deadly in the midrange. Dlo, Reaves, and Bron can space the floor. Imagine kicking out to Dlo for open threes. Or Reaves and Lebron for open threes or they can attack close outs. Also, imagine how valuable Derozan would be in 4th quarters with his ability to attack the basket and get to the cup or hit cluch mid range shots...His ability to handle the ball and pass is underrated. He is a 6 time allstar that doesn't shrink in the playoffs. He would unlock playoff Dlo and Reaves as they will no longer have to compete for being the 3rd option as they would now be competing for being the 4th option night in and night out...Derozan is exactly who we need to compete for a chip. Also, Drummond would be of great help as can help take the load off AD and so he can be go into the playoffs more healthy...

Just get a bruising center and we good

They have 24 hours to make a trade cuz free agency or they wont have a roster spot for a free agent

We were 16-7 with The starting lineup we should’ve used from the start. Thats a 60 win pace over 82 games. Coaching was our clear downfall not the roster construction. I don’t hate the idea of running it back

Hertenstein please 🙏

trade that lazy ah player and let reaves be the starting PG.

I'm sure LeBron will stay with the Lakers now that Ronny is on the team. It would be very interesting if he doesn't. Kinda like, ok my boy is set, I can retire. JK

DLo is no Austin Reaves

KEEP D-LO!! Run it back with a healthy team.

I don't have no confidence in Pelinka to pull off any trades. Let alone right trades! Pelinka as a VP, GM ain't it

Agreed based on play Keep Hayes trade Wood

its so obvious how much this man dont like dlo.... so so sad to see

Omg...all you people who think we should bring dlo back are delusional. Our defense was horrible last year with him and ar as point of attack defenders. We will literally be the worst defense in the league.

dlo giving me more reasons not to like him, they better trade him or its just a repeat of the last 2yrs, a no show in the playoffs.

For now I would do an Utah trade to get Sexton,Kessler . Send Rui,Gabe,JHS, take the protection off the 2027 pick and send a 2029 first. If you move on from D’Lo you need to replace his scoring

Trade for Edey

Pelinka make excuses why he can't pull off trades. Why other teams can

Can he learn to play defense...

Austin Reaves is the one that needs to Go

Lebron said last year Bronny could start right then and was better than the players they had. Why doesn't Bronny start? Oh yeah he sucks.

Another year of Christie's wasted talent... trade Dlo for a bag of chips

Let cam walk

Pelinka is a terrible gm! He signed bronny and now he can sell tickets by having the james family, this gm dont wanna win and its disgusting! I dont believe they will move dlo! Theyll have excuses and excuses!

lauri for d'lo and hyse

You got ppl like this buha dude. Reaves fanboy

Pelinka gotta go, excuses and excuses

Russel trade...👎👎👎

Bring Kyle Kuzma back yessir

For what or who? Who are we going to trade him for that will move the needle? We've become LeBron's clownshow and apparently according to his fans and media mouthpieces we should be excited that we have a narcissistic coach with 0 experience, his son on his clownshow and him getting a three year max extension (let's not act like he's not getting it or he is taking a pay cut).

Lakers organization a f joke

Hi... @jovanbuha just my thought but could you move further back from the camera... It feels like you are lecturing me rather than having a conversation with me...

Pelinka do your f job.

Kuzma, let's get him back home