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Peers Vote For Unlikely LA Player As One Of League’s Most Underrated

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In an anonymous spring poll of 142 players from Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard D’Angelo Russell found himself tied for 12th among all players as being one of the most underrated in the league, getting 1.6% of all votes (two players).

To be fair, this poll was conducted prior to yet another inconsistent run from the 28-year-old vet during the postseason. Across five contests in L.A.’s brisk first round defeat against the Denver Nuggets (who themselves were subsequently eliminated in seven games by the Minnesota Timberwolves), Russell averaged 14.2 points on .384/.318/.500 shooting splits, 4.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 steals a night.

The OSU product did enjoy a stellar regular season as a scorer, shooter and distributor, but those massive dips under the spotlight of the playoffs may give other potentially interested parties pause. He has an $18.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season.

Los Angeles has been rumored to be considering re-signing the 6-foot-4 pro to a new deal this summer if he does opt out, albeit with an eye on trading him at the deadline. That said, this is exactly what the team did last summer, and then it couldn’t find a deal for him at the 2024 deadline.