After he was acquired in February’s Russell Westbrook trade, guard D’Angelo Russell helped transform the Los Angeles Lakers from a mediocre team to one that looked like a possible championship contender.
He averaged 17.4 points and 6.1 assists a game while shooting 48.4 percent overall and 41.4 percent from 3-point range in the regular season with L.A. Although he was inconsistent in the first two rounds of the playoffs, he had several strong games to help it reach the Western Conference Finals.
But once there, the Lakers got swept by the Denver Nuggets, and Russell was a significant reason why, as he mustered just 6.3 points per game while shooting a frigid 32.3 percent from the field and 13.3 percent from downtown.
He was seen practicing his shot after their Game 3 loss, only to take just four shots off the bench in Game 4.
Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas took Russell to task for putting in work only to end his season with a whimper (warning — strong language).
“How many shots did he take after the last game? Probably like 200! To come the next game and take 2 shots? Get the [expletive] off my team.”
Russell will be a free agent this summer, and there is already speculation the Lakers will turn down the opportunity to re-sign him to go star-hunting for someone such as Kyrie Irving or perhaps even Trae Young.
