D'Angelo Russell's Improved Play Will Increase Trade Value for Lakers amid NBA Rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers are undefeated since moving D'Angelo Russell into a reserve role.

If they are to trust the old adage about how you shouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken, then it should be all systems go on Russell as the sixth man, right?

Well, the Lakers might be leaning that way. Per Clutch Points' Anthony Irwin, Russell's play—and that of the team overall—has the club feeling "a little more reluctant" to let him go.

"In talking to sources close to the Lakers, Russell playing well in this role might make them a little more reluctant to part with him, as bench unit seriously struggled with Gabe Vincent at the helm," Irwin wrote. "If this is actually who Russell can be for the rest of the season, the Lakers might get even more picky about who they'd trade him for, or would look to find a more reliable option than Vincent as part of a Russell trade."

Russell, to his credit, has not only taken his demotion in stride, he has used his new role to make as big of an impact as ever.

There might be some early-season, small-sample static here, but the numbers still show L.A. being a whopping 20.3 points better per 100 possessions with Russell than without, per NBA.com. The difference is even bigger since the demotion (plus-25.3 points per 100 possessions).

"It's about everyone trusting the process, accepting their roles," Anthony Davis told reporters. "You know, [Russell] didn't have any fight-back. He's still coming out, producing, so, obviously very professional of him."

That's definitely a part of it. Russell isn't forcing the issue or playing out of character. He is taking the opportunities that come his way, which has manifested into a rock-solid 46/40/83.3 shooting slash and more than twice as many assists (3.4) as turnovers (1.6).

What could also be playing a part here, though, is highlighting the fact that Russell is an imperfect fit alongside Davis, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Russell is an offense-leaning, shot-first point guard. That's an excellent archetype for a sixth man, but it's less than ideal for a complementary piece who is the fourth option in the starting five.

Russell can thrive (and clearly is thriving) in this spark-plug role, and it's true the second team needed more offensive juice. The question for the Lakers is whether Russell is important enough in his new role to ignore the opportunity cost of holding him out of a trade.

Now, L.A. doesn't have to worry too much about hypothetical trades when it's winning games at this rate (.692, fifth overall), but what happens if (or maybe when) the victory count doesn't pile up so quickly. Because if you change the metric over to net efficiency rating, suddenly this drops from a great team to a kinda-good one (plus-0.7, 12th).

In other words, a major trade might still be needed if the Lakers want to position themselves among the league's top contenders. And you'd think that would be the aim given the ticking clock attached to the James-Davis duo.

None of this renders Russell's recent run as unimportant. In fact, it does the opposite. If clubs are convinced he can fully buy into the sixth-man role that arguably fits his skill set best, then they would value him for more than just his expiring $18.7 million salary, per Spotrac. Russell, then, wouldn't just be making the math work on a major deal, but he'd actually be someone L.A.'s trade partner covets.

That's big. That allows the relatively asset-light Lakers to dream bigger than they might have a month ago. If Russell is viewed as even a neutral trade asset, then L.A. doesn't have to attach sweeteners to send him out and therefore increases its trade budget.

The Lakers needed this lift. Earlier this month, The Athletic's Sam Amick reported a package of Russell and multiple first-round picks "would not be of interest" to the Utah Jazz for third-year center Walker Kessler. That painted a pretty grim picture of Russell's perception outside of Hollywood. Kessler is a fine player, but an interior-bound big man with a limited offensive role wouldn't exactly be considered a needle-mover by most.

While the rebuilding Jazz have no reason to put stock into Russell's rise, that shouldn't be true for win-now teams who need an offensive boost in the backcourt. They might have legitimate interest in bringing him on board and be willing to send back the Lakers a more significant upgrade.