The Los Angeles Lakers are currently without a starting point guard. And unless you really believe the Lakers will start Game 1 of next season with Alex Caruso at point guard, they will likely be in the market for a starter when free agency begins in just over a week.
With Kyrie Irving likely heading to Brooklyn, one of the more available point guards appears to be Nets guard and former Laker D’Angelo Russell. Russell is fresh off of his first All-Star selection and fills a position of need for the Lakers. He’s also been getting some attention from Anthony Davis as of late. But at least one other Western Conference foe believes they have a shot at Russell.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his podcast that the Timberwolves believe they have a reasonable path to acquiring Russell, which would mean offloading some bloated contracts on their books like Jeff Teague or Gorgui Dieng.
“There has been a lot of Minnesota (signing) D’Angelo Russell noise,” said Lowe. “And it’s not all Karl Towns commenting on Instagram because they’re friends. Minnesota has communicated to the league, not the NBA league, just the league at large that they believe they have a pathway to get D’Angelo Russell.
“I can’t see what it is because they’re capped out and they have all of these contracts nobody wants, but they’ve communicated that.”
Whether the Wolves would be willing to give up draft picks to offload contracts, or whether any teams would be willing to take draft picks to take those contracts on, is a major obstacle standing in Minnesota’s way. But if Russell decides he wants to play with his friend Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wolves may be more willing to mortgage some of their future in order to pounce on an opportunity.
The Lakers have an easier path to Russell and they also boast two of the top six or seven players in the NBA. But Russell’s upcoming decision appears to be a little more complicated than that.
