In the 23-24 season, the Los Angeles Lakers' playoff journey has ended early, but their chances for the coming year are still not small, after all, although James will be 40 years old by then, he still has the ability to decide the game, and Davis is already one of the league's top two interior stars, if the Purple and Gold Army can usher in the third giant, then James's fifth championship is actually very promising! Until then, Russell's player option is undoubtedly key to the team's offseason operations, as it could be worth trading for the third All-Star!
It is reported that Greg Swartz, a reporter from the NBA media "Bleachers", brought a win-win deal in Los Angeles, which pointed out that the Lakers and Clippers, two teams in the same city, should complete a deal, after all, at least two players in the roster will become free agents and have the probability of leaving, for this reason, the idea of the deal is that Russell needs to exercise the player option, specifically $18.7 million, sign and trade and then help the Lakers complete the deal with the Clippers!
The details of the trade are for the Lakers to send D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Reaves, Hachimura and a 2024/2025 first-round pick to the Clippers in a bid to get Paul George and PJ Tucker! For Russell, if he signs first and then trades, he will be able to go to Los Angeles Clippers to play, saving him the trouble of going to other cities, and the Clippers will be able to give him a satisfactory answer in terms of contract!
In addition, the Clippers will also give Russell more opportunities, this is a team that shares the ball more smoothly without George and needs more role players to participate, Harden is no longer the player who is obsessed with offense, and Leonard is also a closed play in the regular season, which will make Reaves, Russell and Can't play better, and the lineup will become more balanced and reasonable because of the arrival of these three players, don't forget that Vanderbilt can bring better defense, overall, The Clippers lost an All-Star but made the roster better and more complete.
And what about the Lakers and George? George wants to get a bigger contract and have a chance to compete for a championship, and over the years, the Clippers have been extremely close every time and have lost every time to injury, which naturally makes him tired! Choosing to join forces with James, the injury problem is basically non-existent, which will give him a real chance to perform well in the playoffs again! In terms of the Lakers, Russell will be expected to complete James to form the Big Three, especially George as a guard swingman is undoubtedly very suitable for the current Lakers, although the depth of the squad is not as good as this season, but they can still have other signings to supplement some veterans in the coming year, around James + George + Davis such a championship-winning configuration, naturally there are many players who are eager for the championship will come to form a team, which will undoubtedly make Lao Zhan's fifth championship closer and closer!