Eastern Conference upstart could have eyes on D'Angelo Russell

D’Angelo Russell may be going from trade bait to hot-ticket item.

Los Angeles Lakers writer Jovan Buha of The Athletic said this week on a video stream that one particular team has emerged as the biggest threat to the Lakers for Russell this summer – the Orlando Magic.

“Orlando’s the team,” said Buha, per Lakers Daily. “Orlando is the team that, talking to people with the Lakers, talking to people outside the Lakers, Orlando is the team that probably gives them the most concern in terms of a potential suitor.”

Russell, an All-Star in 2019, owns a $18.7 million player option for next year. But he is having a fantastic 2023-24 campaign, leading many to believe that he will decline the option to hit the open market. With averages of 18.1 points and 6.4 assists a game on a career-high 42.0 percent from deep this year, the 28-year-old guard is indeed positioning himself for a very nice payday.

Right now, Orlando is rolling with Jalen Suggs as their lead guard next to a rotating cast of starting backcourt partners (including Markelle Fultz, Caleb Houston, Anthony Black and Gary Harris). While they have found success with that formula, sitting at 42-31 this season as more of their offense is funneled towards forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, the Magic could really use a mighty offensive threat like Russell next to the defensive-minded Suggs up top.

With the likes of Fultz and Harris coming off the books this summer as well, Orlando should have plenty of cap room to work with this summer. Of course, the Lakers own Russell’s Bird rights – thanks to acquiring Russell in a trade last season – and can thus offer him the most money and the most years. But the up-and-coming Magic have been targeting Russell’s player type for a while now and could make it really interesting for the Lakers this offseason.