It’s a Purple and Gold reunion.
Lakers Nation has been wishing for it to happen for a quite a while.
Russell Westbrook has been traded by the Los Angeles Lakers. These are the details of the three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz.
Lakers receive:
- D’Angelo Russell
- Malik Beasley
- James Vanderbilt
Timberwolves receive:
- Mike Conley
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
- 2024 2nd round pick swap (via WAS-MEM)
- 2025 2nd round pick (via UTA)
- 2026 2nd round pick (via UTA)
Jazz receive:
- Russell Westbrook
- Juan Toscano-Anderson
- Damian Jones
- 2027 1st round pick (via LAL)
According to TNT’s Chris Haynes, Westbrook is expected to be bought out by Utah once the trade is finalized. Well, outside of the 2017 MVP and the aging Mike Conley, the most notable name in this whole picture is D’Angelo Russell. The 26-year-old point guard was picked second overall in 2015 by the Lakers. A reunion in 2023 is no ordinary get-together for both camps.
Here's a quick lookback on the colorful history of the Purple and Gold and D’Lo.
Rookie season (2015-16)
Russell was a projected top 3 pick coming into the 2015 Draft, with bigs Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor going 1 and 2 in most draft boards. But the Lakers saw talent in Russell and took him with their second overall pick. It turned out to be the right pick after seeing how Okafor's NBA career panned out.
D'Lo spent his rookie year with the late, great Kobe Bryant as his teammate. The point guard averaged a decent 13.2 points and 3.3 assists in 28.2 minutes of action. It wasn’t enough for the impatient fans of the Lakers. He wound up in NBA All-Rookie second team by the end of the season.
Sophomore season (2016-17) and the snitching issue
The Ohio State product upped his numbers to 15.6 points and 4.8 assists through 60 games. The promising sophomore campaign, however, had been overshadowed by a leaked video that showed Russell secretly videotaping his teammate Nick Young while asking about other women.
Not only it caused a rift between Young and his former fiancée in pop star Iggy Azalea, but also between D’Angelo and the rest of the team. On June 22, 2017, Russell was traded to the Nets. The Lakers apparently had their eye on then-highly touted UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball whom they picked in that year’s NBA Draft.
D’Lo’s All-star year in Brooklyn, getting traded to Golden State, moving to Minnesota
With the Nets, Russell showed what he’s truly capable of, culminating in an All-Star selection while averaging 21.1 points and 7 assists per contest. But in 2019, he was the centerpiece of the package sent to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Kevin Durant. His brief stint at the Bay saw him hitting 23.6 points in 33 games. His next stop was in Minnesota where he had been a reliable floor general playing beside his buddy Karl Anthony-Towns.
Now, averaging 17.9 points and 6.2 assists he finds himself back where he started his NBA career. From playing with Kobe, he will now play with another great in LeBron James.
D’Lo’s former Wolves backcourt mate who’s currently with the Lakers in Patrick Beverley is excited for the homecoming.
Stuck at 13th in the Western Conference standings, of course the Purple and Gold nation is excited to welcome a much more seasoned and still as talented D’ Angelo Russell back in the fold.