On May 27, Beijing time, it was revealed that the Lakers refused to renew Russell in advance for 2 years and 67.5 million, and the American media listed the Lakers 3-for-1 trade to get Irving's plan, sending away Russell, Vanderbilt and the 2023 first-round pick, and getting Irving from the Lone Ranger.
Russell has become the Lakers' first potential departure this summer, according to Dave McMenamin, Lakers player Russell is eligible to sign a 2-year, $67.5 million early contract extension with the Lakers before the free market opens on July 1, but the Lakers will not give him this maximum salary extension; If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, Russell will become a free agent.
Previously, Hayes reported that Russell would not return to the Lakers because of his conflicting roles with James, and Russell's performance in the Western Final Series was too bad to attack and prevent, and he only contributed 27 points on 10-of-31 shooting in the Western Conference Finals, 2-of-15 three-pointers were a disaster, and the Western Conference G4 was directly demoted to the bench.
US media Lakers Daily listed a trade plan to send Russell and recruit Irving, how did the Lakers successfully reach a deal to sign Irving first? The specific trade plan is - the Lakers send Russell, Vanderbilt and the 2023 first-round pick (No. 17 pick), and get Irving from the Lone Ranger.
For the Lone Ranger, Russell can help them make up for the loss of Brunson and Irving, Vanderbilt is a good wing defender who can both help Doncic, and considering that Irving may leave as a free agent this summer, this return is also a successful deal for the Lone Ranger.
For the Lakers, they can solve Russell's contract extension problem and help James realize the idea of Jane Ou reuniting, but the Lakers building the Big Three of James + thick eyebrows + Irving will lead to insufficient roster depth of the team.
In this year's playoffs, the Lakers stopped in the Western Conference finals, and James and Thick Eyebrows led the team to the championship and failed; The Lakers roster could change a lot this summer, with the first priority being to keep Reeves and Hachimura, and multiple teams in the league are expected to compete for them; Russell is expected to leave, Schroder is also difficult to return, in addition to renewing his contract, the Lakers also need to find a helper for James, what can Pelinka accomplish? Wait and see.