The Lakers wanted to trade him at the deadline, D'Angelo Numbers surprise

The Los Angeles Lakers aren't inside the top 6 teams in the Western Conference at the moment, but they are gaining momentum to find themselves there at the end of the 2023-24 NBA season and D'Angelo Russell has been one of their most constant stars despite all the rumors he was involved.

D'Angelo Russell was the name at the top of different reports and rumors in the NBA's trade deadline with a move to Atlanta Hawks for Dejounte Murray being the most popular take of many NBA insiders, but D'Lo pulled off some of his best performances of his career and now will be staying in LA for at least the end of this campaign.

The numbers D'Lo has been pulling off this season are some of the best he has had during his career, and fans are loving the fact he wasn't traded. Russell has also been the third star and a true leader to the group according to different teammates.

D’Angelo Russell is shooting 41.7% from 3(career high), 47% FG, 81% FT, 17.5 points, 6.3 assists, and 1.9 TOV (career low) for the Lakers this season. With Spencer Dinwiddie now on the roster, D'Lo has more help at the PG position while Gabe Vincent continues to be out for his recovery from knee surgery.

D'Angelo Russell revealed his mindset amid the trading rumors

“I never played to not get traded,” he said. “I was just kinda like, f— it. And that ‘f— it’ allowed me to play my game.” The guard also credited his recent stretch of productive basketball to the idea that he doesn’t get too hung up on what his shooting percentages are. “Guys come in, they care about their percentages, they care about all this stuff and then they struggle,” he said. “As soon as I stopped caring about it, I played my best basketball of my career.”