Should D'Angelo Russell Come Off the Bench for the Lakers? With Guest Anthony Irwin

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have a problem. Or at least seem to.

D'Angelo Russell is not exactly well-loved inside the building in El Segundo, at least not to the degree of an Austin Reaves or Rui Hachimura, or other supporting players about whom the Lakers seem to express more enthusiasm. But they can't afford to just dump the guy in whatever trade they can find, because Russell was probably their third best player last season, and the team can't afford to get worse just to avoid a personality conflict.

But Russell is hard to trade, because good teams that could use his talent don't want him (bad rep, shaky vibes, problematic defense) and bad teams don't need him (doesn't fit a rebuilding timeline, not someone people are clamoring to use as a mentor). So that means both parties are, for now, stuck with each other, right?

Is that something that can get rectified before training camp? By the trade deadline? What do the Lakers do in the interim?

Those questions and more are big on today's show, with guest Anthony Irwin, who has some thoughts about Russell and what the Lakers ought to do with him. From there, it's a discussion about the lack of movement this offseason, and where improvement might come, internally. Is it just Max Christie? Can Reaves improve? Rui? Is it possible to get minutes from Jalen Hood-Schifino? Can Dalton Knecht be better than Taurean Prince? How many wins is JJ Redick worth?

If the Lakers are going to build on their 47-win season last year, they'll need good health, first and foremost, but then a path to internal improvement.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, with guest Anthony Irwin

SEGMENT 1: What to do with D'Angelo Russell?

SEGMENT 2: Could Russell come off the bench?
SEGMENT 3: Where can the Lakers gain meaningful improvement, internally?

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