One of the better point guards in the NBA looks like a semi-journeyman throughout the first eight seasons of his career. D’Angelo Russell has played for multiple teams, and he’s only 27, but with the constant movement around the league Russell jokes about his intuition when it comes to being traded.
D’Angelo Russell has superpowers. Besides the ice in his veins, the Lakers point guard also says he can feel when he’s about to get traded.
Russell went on a podcast with his former teammate and friend Patrick Beverley on Bev’s podcast, “The Pat Bev Podcast With Rone,” and alluded to the fact that Russell has spent time on a handful of teams with no real success. When talking about being traded, Russell jokes that he can tell when he’s about to be traded.
Fadeawayworld quoted Russell as saying, “I felt that they couldn’t pay me, so I knew I was out; I’ve been traded so many times I can feel it. I can walk into the facility and see how the janitor looked at me different and he probably overheard a conversation. I’m feeling all that. What Kendrick say? ‘I can feel you’re energy from two planets away’.”
Russell has spent eight seasons in the league and has suited up for four different teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers. Twice. Russell was drafted by the Lakers in 2015 and was traded two years later to the Nets, where he spent two seasons, being named to his only All-Star Game in his second year in Brooklyn in 2018.
Then, after being traded to the Warriors the following season, he spent all 33 games with Golden State before they flipped him to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins.
The exciting part about Minnesota was that they wanted Russell. They felt he was the missing piece for their young but experienced core that featured Karl Anthony-Towns and 2020 first-overall pick Anthony Edwards. That dream scenario for Russell lasted for only two seasons before they sent him back to the team that drafted him in L.A. The Lakers re-signed Russell, although he had a very shaky playoff performance with the Lakers en route to their Western Conference Finals appearance.
Russell has been traded so many times throughout his career while holding career averages of 17.7 ppg and 5.7 assists per game because teams who trade for him always view him as the missing piece to take their squad to the next level. When they fell flat they would ship him off to get a good return while he still held decent trade value for his age and the versatility of his offensive play.
Hopefully, Russell has finally found his home long-term with the Lakers; after all, things are coming full circle for “DLo.”
