2024-2025 Los Angeles Lakers Player Review: D’Angelo Russell

The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2024-25 NBA season having made no changes to their roster from the year prior, despite being bounced in the first round by the Denver Nuggets the year before that. That meant D’Angelo Russell would take his place once again as the team’s starting point guard.

Russell had been on the trade block nearly his entire second stint in L.A., as there was a large enough body of evidence that he had reached his ceiling with the team. However, the 2023-24 season saw him post the best shooting numbers of his career during the regular season, making L.A. want another chance with the guard they originally drafted No. 2 overall.

Immediately, it became clear that he was not going to be a fit with JJ Redick’s version of the Lakers. Russell was removed from the starting lineup very early on, being asked to embrace a new sixth man role. His numbers were down across the board from 2023-24, and Redick started him in just 10 out of 29 games to begin the season. It was the first time since his rookie season that he came off the bench in more than 16 games total.

So it was of little surprise that the Lakers ultimately traded Russell to the Brooklyn Nets — along with Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks — in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Finney-Smith was the difference-maker in the trade, immediately turning around L.A.’s defense while shooting efficiently from three.

It ended Russell’s second stint with the Lakers in the same exact way his first one ended, with a trade to the Nets.

2024-25 Highlight

Russell’s best game of the season for the Lakers came in a home battle against the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 8, 2024. With LeBron James and Austin Reaves out of the Lakers lineup, Redick leaned heavily on Russell, who came through with 28 points, 14 assists and five rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench.

His 28 points tied a season-high and his 14 assists were a season-high.

2025-26 Outlook

After spending the rest of the season with the Nets, Russell became an unrestricted free agent. He wasn’t one for long, as the Dallas Mavericks chose him as their perfect stopgap replacement for the injured Kyrie Irving. He signed a two-year deal at the taxpayer mid-level exception to join Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg and Irving.

He is expected to start in Dallas until Irving is healthy before eventually transitioning to the bench.