Are the Lakers finally having an off-season movement? The LA side, which created a lot of conversation in the last few months, couldn’t crack a single deal. While it seemed like the team would head into the new season without major changes, they now might add a new guard to the roster amid the Cavs’ cat-and-mouse situation. At least, that’s what the fans feel. D’Angelo Russell, who had a rusty post-season, got the Lakers nation hooked with his social media activity, amid Darius Garland trade rumors.

The Cavs guard has found a permanent spot in the rumor mill since the start of the off-season. While everyone expected the Cleveland side to trade Donovan Mitchell, the team invested in him and remained unchanged. Just like the Lakers. Importantly, this trade was always on the cards following an expert opinion.

D’Lo has dropped a pleading face emoji on his X handle without any context. It was enough for the fans to ask if he got traded. Well, it’s hard to blame them. The drama ahead of the off-season would make anyone relate this tweet to extreme scenarios.

Firstly, let’s take the Cavaliers‘ situation into account. After the team missed out on the Conference semi-finals, Shams Charania was quick with his off-season prediction. Keeping Donovan Mitchell‘s max contract eligibility in mind, he predicted that they have to either roll with Darius Garland or Spida depending on the off-season signing.

The guard then proceeded to sign a 3-year extension for $150 million while Garland remained on the side. Notably, the latter’s agent is none other than Rich Paul. It only gave hope to the fans that the star agent would pull the offense-dominant guard into the LA side following D’Lo’s postseason disservice.

Especially with the fans doubting the Lakers star’s skills, Garland has come off an exciting 2023-24 season, averaging 18.0 points and 6.5 assists. Even though these numbers have steeply dipped compared to his previous seasons, his playmaking skills will boost the LA side’s chances during the LeBron James-less minutes. Anyway, let’s find out what fans feel about the trade.

“Where are you going?” – Fans swarm D’Angelo Russell with a crucial dilemma

There’s no doubt that Darius Garland is the realistic option for the Lakers before the new season. And the only possible replacement for a player with an annual salary of $36 million was D’Angelo Russell. Thus, fans flooded the star’s comments with one question. A fan reflected the Lakers Nation’s mind and asked, “YOU FINALLY GOT TRADED???” Another fan on a similar wavelength, also asked, “Hope this means you got traded.” 

On the other hand, it shouldn’t be any trade other than the one with the Cavaliers. Of course, that will land Garland on the LA side. So, a fan wanted to make it clear, as he asked, “Where are you going?” While the majority of fans were left intrigued with the trade possibility, a fan decided to take a jibe at D’Lo. The fan just wrote, “0 points,” with a clown emoji.

It’s more of a reminder. This cannot come from anyone apart from a frustrated Lakers fan. It was Russell’s score after the final buzzer of the 2024 playoff first-round Game 3 against the Nuggets. The star went 0-7 from the field, leaving LeBron James and Co. to lose a close 105-112 encounter that had the side 0-3 down in the series.

Fans seem evidently frustrated with the LA side’s lack of movement in the off-season. Will Rob Pelinka pull off a trade at the late end? If so, who do you think should be traded? Let us know in the comments.