D’Angelo Russell has been in trade rumors for much of his career. Entering this year, he had been traded four times in eight seasons and after signing a two-year, $36 million deal this summer he immediately became the player on the Lakers most likely to be dealt should they need to make a move this season.
With the trade deadline looming on Thursday and the Lakers sitting at 27-25, there’s ample speculation on what L.A. will do this week. LeBron James is tweeting cryptically and doing some of the best passive aggressive prodding he’s done in years (walking off with a Knicks towel around his neck over the weekend was truly inspired stuff), but continues to insist he has no power over the Lakers decision-making and deflects questions about whether they need to make a move.
That has meant Russell has spent the last month plus hearing all the rumors about his future, but after the Lakers picked up their third straight win on Monday night in Charlotte, with Russell leading the Lakers in scoring with 28 points, he offered a rather refreshing perspective. Russell didn’t just shrug off the questions, but noted that he knows exactly why he’s involved (his contract) and said it’s out of his control so he can’t worry about it, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“I don’t care. At all,” Russell said when asked how he will deal with the speculation leading up to the deadline. “Show up to work. That’s it.”
“I mean, I can’t control that my contract makes sense to be traded, either,” Russell said. “So, I mean, just play. You can’t control that. Once again, I don’t care. At all.”
Russell gave up the veto power he would’ve had over a trade this summer when negotiating his deal with the Lakers, and he explained part of that was knowing what comes with the territory and believing in his ability to be successful and, thus, be part of the future.
“I just thought it made sense,” Russell said. “Obviously I’ve been here before, I played for the Lakers before, so I know what the requirements are to be successful here are. So, if you’re part of the future here you’ll be successful. If you’re not, you’ll get traded. And I’ve been traded before here. So, my approach is just a little different.
“I really just genuinely, humbly don’t care because I know I can’t control it, one. And, two, I just won’t allow my mind to go there. I like to focus on this and you guys see how I’ve been focusing on basketball and not comments and what’s trending on social.”
Waiving that clause probably also got Russell more money, as the Lakers were more willing to give him a larger deal if they could move off of it if things didn’t pan out. Even so, Russell has been around long enough (even at just 27) to know exactly how the business of basketball works and that perspective allows him to handle a difficult period with a relatively healthy perspective on keeping his focus on the court, knowing everything else is simply out of his control.
