NBA insider Arye Abraham is reporting the Los Angeles Lakers have ‘strong interest’ in bringing free agent guard D’Angelo Russell back to the Lakers just a couple years removed from their incredibly messy breakup.
The former no. 2 pick from Ohio State was infamously dumped by the team when he was involved in a spat with former Laker Nick Young after Russell allegedly ratted Young out to famed rapper Iggy Azalea about Young’s extended infidelities. Russell recorded secret a conversation of Young admitting he had cheated on former girlfriend Iggy Azalea and the audio was leaked somehow.
Russell even had to hold a press conference about the incident, as the team reportedly had lost trust in Russell and had alienated him in the locker room.
When the team traded Russell to the Brooklyn Nets, Magic Johnson even went so far to tweet that he needed a better ‘leader’ than Russell had portrayed, which is still a controversial move that Magic has taken heat on for years.
Russell would resurrect his career in Brooklyn, and even make the Eastern Conference All-Star team this past season.
The Lakers currently have roughly $25 million in cap space, and with Magic’s exodus from the franchise things appear to have smoothed over with the 23-year-old coming off the best season of his career.