Lakers Rumors: Dallas Mavericks turned down deal for D’Angelo Russell

In a busy day of Lakers rumors, it has become clear that they were actively looking to trade point guard D’Angelo Russell.

There have been plenty of Lakers rumors in the past few days and on Tuesday there was some big news regarding point guard D’Angelo Russell.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets agreed to a surprising deal that sent D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the 27^th overall pick.

Before this blockbuster trade happened, the Lakers offered Russell to the Dallas Mavericks for the ninth overall pick. According to Mike Fisher, the Mavericks turned this trade down.

For the Mavericks, they will likely have the opportunity to draft a talented point guard like Dennis Smith Jr. or Frank Ntilikina. Since they turned down this deal for Russell, they obviously value those two higher than Russell.

It was rather surprising to see the Lakers shopping Russell around. As a former top pick just a few years ago, the Lakers appear ready to move in a different direction in their backcourt.

The Lakers trading Russell is a pretty strong indication that they will be selecting Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick unless they end up trading that selection. While Russell still is young and has a lot of potential, there would have been quite a log jam in the backcourt for the Lakers is they didn’t move him or Clarkson.

Next: Who are the 50 greatest Lakers of all-time?

Trading Russell has helped the Lakers rid themselves of the mistake that was signing Timofey Mozgov. Also, Brook Lopez is a very good center, and the 27^th pick is certainly valuable for the team whether they keep it or trade it.

Now, we will have to wait and see if the Lakers use some of what they received from the Nets to attempt to trade for George.