D’Angelo Russell heading to Warriors as part of Durant sign-and-trade

D’Angelo Russell is headed back to California after all, but he won’t be doing it as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

After Kevin Durant made his decision to join Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets, the Golden State Warriors have agreed to a sign-and-trade to give D’Angelo Russell a max contract worth over $114 million, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The signing of Russell by the Warriors takes yet another Lakers contingency plan off the board as they await the decision of Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard, their top free agent target.

Golden State and Brooklyn have agreed on a sign-and-trade, sending D’Angelo Russell to the Warriors on a four-year, $117M maximum contract, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019

According to Shams Charania, the Warriors will get some other pieces in the deal alongside Russell.

Warriors are on verge of acquiring Russell, Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier from Brooklyn, league sources said. https://t.co/4HefUBSNQA

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2019

Russell was widely seen as a target for the Lakers with their cap space, but since the Lakers are still waiting on a decision from Leonard that could take most of their cap space, they were unable to actually make Russell an offer.

The Lakers will still have some options to fill out their roster, but the max level free agents, as well as several lower tier free agents, have all but run out.