Lakers Rumors: D'Angelo Russell's Bad Game vs. Bulls Linked to Zach LaVine Trade Buzz

All of the noise surrounding a Zach LaVine trade for the Los Angeles Lakers may have filtered down to D'Angelo Russell.

The Lakers lost their first meeting with the Chicago Bulls 124-108 on Dec. 20, a game that saw Russell finish with two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin broadly addressed the idea of a LaVine swap Tuesday and wrote how Russell would likely be included in the deal for salary-matching purposes. McMenamin went on to report that "multiple sources told ESPN they worried Russell's 1-for-6 performance could have been affected by the opponent."

Any player is capable of having a bad shooting night, and Russell is no exception. He went 1-of-8 in Los Angeles' 105-104 victory over the Houston Rockets on Nov. 19, and he had three instances of hitting 20 percent or fewer of his shots in 2022-23.

Perhaps the 27-year-old was, however, thrown off a bit by crossing paths with the Bulls given how much he had been linked with them.

Even on the day of the game, The Athletic's Jovan Buha and Darnell Mayberry went back and forth discussing various trade proposals between Los Angeles and Chicago, with Russell's name included in the conversation. Buha at one point posited the 2018-19 All-Star could be shipped out a third team rather than staying in the Windy City.

Russell probably thought he brought some certainty to his short-term future by signing a two-year, $36 million deal with Los Angeles, part of an offseason generally viewed in a favorable light.

But it didn't take long for the 6'3" playmaker to once again find himself a subject of regular speculation as the Lakers started slowly out of the gate.