Lakers guaranteed D’Angelo Russell’s sad fate this summer in Game 3

The Los Angeles Lakers reinvented the roster by trading Russell Westbrook at the trade deadline. In return, Los Angeles brought in Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and reunited with former second-overall pick, D’Angelo Russell.

While Russell was always a better fit than Westbrook, there were certain aspects of his game that fans should have been worried about. His poor defense, tendency to make bad decisions, and habit of going into hero-ball mode on offense can lose a playoff game (and thus a series) for his team.

And that is exactly what has happened so far in the Western Conference Finals. Bruce Brown admitted that the Nuggets hunted Russell in Game 1 of the series and the issues continued as the series went along. D’Lo has been a -72 through three games so far.

Game 3 was the most telling, though. After another sluggish start, Darvin Ham yanked Russell for the rest of the first half in favor of Dennis Schroder. Russell got his chance again in the second half but when the game really mattered, Ham and the Lakers revealed their hand.

Lakers guaranteed D’Angelo Russell’s exit in Game 3 loss.

Ham pulled Russell with eight and a half minutes left in the game and he would not see the floor again. Even when Dennis Schroder fouled out and the Lakers were conceivably in striking distance with a miracle, Ham turned to Lonnie Walker IV to come in over Russell.

That should tell the entire story. It is worth questioning if this was reactionary by Ham as well. For him to keep Russell on the bench at that point in the game indicated that he didn’t just play poorly, but he might have been carrying himself in a non-team manner. That is what the team was reportedly worried about if Russell took any kind of demotion.

Not a great look. It is hard to see Russell returning to the team after this, especially considering the Lakers would have to commit to him for multiple years. While he had several good moments in the first two rounds, Los Angeles has bigger priorities to worry about.

In a perfect world, Rob Pelinka would be able to swing some kind of sign-and-trade to a team that wants Russell’s “star power” but needs to free up some money to do so. But after his performance in the Western Conference Finals (and the fact that the Minnesota Timberwolves gave him away) that does not seem likely.

While the Lakers’ season is not yet over, it feels safe to say that Russell’s future in Los Angeles is definitely over.