The big NBA story over the past couple of days has been about Los Angeles Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell basically betraying teammate Nick Young. Russell secretly recorded Swaggy P admitting that he was cheating on his fiancé Iggy Azalea, and that video leaked. Now, Russell is reportedly being isolated by teammates, and there are many who think that NBA players won't trust him ever again.
The Lakers shockingly won their first game since the news came out against the Miami Heat Wednesday night, but the Russell situation still looms over them. Los Angeles is, and always has been, extremely high on Russell and see him as a future star in the NBA, but his maturity has come into question several times this season.
Russell is just 20 years old, but some think that this incident could possibly mark the end of his Lakers career and that L.A. could look to possibly trade him this offseason. The Lakers have obviously not given any indication of whether they want to move on from Russell after this incident, but it is at least a possibility considering that he is being ostracized by his teammates.
If the Lakers do happen to make Russell available this offseason, one team that makes sense as a trade partner is the Boston Celtics. One NBA executive said that the Celtics would be able to put together a package that would at the very least pique the Lakers' interest. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering that the Celtics are loaded with young talent and draft picks, but it will be a matter of whether they think giving up a lot for Russell is worth it.
Even with this latest incident, Russell's value is likely still fairly high in NBA circles. The former Ohio State star was the second overall pick last summer and has shown flashes of his star potential this season. Of course, Russell is not perfect and needs to grow up, but he still has the kind of talent that can turn a franchise around if he puts it all together.
Russell has said all of the right things since this news broke about how he feels awful, but the damage has been done. The rookie's reputation may never fully recover from this, but the best thing he can do to try and repair it is play well on the court. The same executive that said the Celtics would pique the Lakers' interest also said that he doesn't see the Lakers trying to trade Russell over this, but "stranger things have happened." A lot will depend on how his teammates react to him in the near future, but so far, that isn't looking great for Russell, and a trade from the Lakers may end up becoming a very real possibility.
