Keep D'Angelo Russell? Let him walk? Go get Chris Paul? The Lakers have lots of options, but they need to nail the point guard decision.
theathletic.com
There may not be many realistic and attractive alternatives to re-signing Russell. It’s unclear what, if anything, he would net them on the sign-and-trade front. The theoretical alternatives range from unrealistic (Irving, VanVleet) to even more unrealistic (Young, Lillard).
Acquiring Irving or VanVleet would almost certainly require a sign-and-trade, which would hard cap the Lakers at $169.0 million. The Lakers can create roughly $30million to $35 million in cap space, but it would cost them multiple rotation players, likely including Hachimura. Even then, Irving and VanVleet may want more than the $35 million the Lakers can offer – Irving’s maximum contract would start at about $47 million and
VanVleet’s max begins at $40.2 million. Young and Lillard have been discussed internally but appear nothing more than a pipe dream given the current asking prices for stars on the trade market.
That leaves Paul as the most realistic potential upgrade at point guard. If Paul is waived or stretched by the Suns, the Lakers would have a strong interest in signing him, according to multiple team sources not authorized to speak publicly.
The Athletic reported the Suns were working with Paul through a number of options for next season, including a trade or a release. He is slated to make $30.8 million next season, but only $15.8 million of that is guaranteed if he is waived before June 28.
Given that Paul’s next contract would offset the amount he’s guaranteed for this season, him signing for anything more than the veteran’s minimum doesn’t really make sense, as it would only hinder his new team.
The Lakers could then sign Paul to a veteran’s minimum contract, retaining access to other salary-cap exceptions to use on other players to bolster their depth.
Paul is coming off a season in which he averaged 13.9 points per game (on a 55.5 true shooting percentage), 4.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.5 steals. He’s far from the player he was even a few years ago, but he remains a quality starter as a plus shooter and passer. His biggest issue, as has been the case for several years, is durability. He has suffered an injury in three straight postseasons and six of his nine trips to the playoffs, indicating the Lakers would likely have to manage his workload throughout the 2023-24 season.
If the Lakers replace Russell with Paul on a minimum contract, they’d be able to easily retain Reaves and Hachimura and have the option to use their non-taxpayer midlevel exception (worth approximately $12.5 million annually) on Schröder, another player, or both. Another option the Lakers have discussed is signing Paul and retaining Russell to further solidify their point guard position, according to those team sources. Paul would be the favorite to start in that scenario.
Head-to-head, Paul vs. Russell was never a conversation until last season, and Paul still rates out better in virtually every advanced metric. He’s the better midrange shooter, passer, rebounder and more of a defensive playmaker. That said, Russell is younger, nearly matched Paul as a midrange shooter this past season and is the better 3-point shooter both by percentage and volume. Russell’s 6-foot-10 wingspan also allows him to defend bigger players and add length to the Lakers’ scheme in a way that the 38-year-old Paul never could.
