4. D'Angelo Russell
The D'Angelo Russell experience is always one that some love, some hate, and most feel somewhere in the middle about. When he began his career with the Lakers way back in 2015, he was a young and somewhat immature player just trying to find his way. Learning under the legendary Kobe Bryant, many fell in love with D'Lo and his potential.
But after two seasons with the Lake Show, it was time for D'Angelo to move on. Traded to the Brooklyn Nets one year before LeBron's arrival in Los Angeles, D'Lo returned to the Lakers in 2023 a much older and more experienced player. He had certainly matured in several ways, but a few of his old habits were still hanging around.
One of those habits was his inconsistency. Lakers fans have seen this trait over the last season and a half, with Russell having extended streaks of incredible scoring prowess as well as prolonged droughts. But as we reached the second half of this past season, D'Lo began to put things together.
He was scoring at a much more consistent rate, becoming one of the Lakers' most reliable players. D'Angelo has still had his struggles at times, such as his Game 3 stinker in the playoffs. But by and large, he has put in the work to be considered a reasonably valuable trade asset.