Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell is expected to decline the player option on his contract after the season and become an unrestricted free agent, per NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
The Lakers trail their first-round playoff series to the defending champion Denver Nuggets, 3-0, and are on the brink of being swept by Denver for the second straight season. They’ve lost 11 straight overall to the Nuggets — and for LA, changes are highly likely coming this summer.
Russell, 28, is in his second stint with the Lakers and has been both hot and cold, and wildly inconsistent, for most of the season and quarter to quarter in games. But he still averaged 18.0 points, 6.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds, shooting 46 percent from the field and 42 percent in 76 regular-season games.
Those are the types of numbers that can lead to a pay increase — if not from the Lakers, then some other NBA team.
That said, given that the Lakers can’t seem to get to a championship level as currently constructed, the Lakers may opt to go in a different direction should Russell indeed decide to opt out. For that, they could not be blamed.
In three playoff games, Russell’s averages are down to 12.0 points and 33 percent shooting, including 30 percent on threes. After an 8-of-16 shooting performance in Game 2, in which the Lakers blew a 20-point lead, he went 0-of-7 in Game 3.
Russell is also taking some heat for his perceived behavior on the bench during the Game 3 loss, though it may have been nothing more than him being disappointed with his own performance.
The Lakers have led each game of the series by double-digits before blowing it.
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