Lakers Trade Rumor: D'Angelo Russell not on trade block, conflicting reports emerge

Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell was the subject of trade rumors on Thursday, when Brian Geltzeiler of Hoops Critic reported that Russell had "been made available in trade talks," according to his sources around the league. Well, his report actually said "DeAngelo Russell" was available in trade talks, but since that player doesn't exist we are forced to assume the report was about the Russell who is actually on the Lakers.

Russell has dealt with some struggles during his rookie season and recently had a public disagreement over playing time with his head coach. However, he has been impressive for most of the past month, and was recently named to the Rising Stars game that showcases the best first and second year players in the NBA (alongside teammate Jordan Clarkson) and it is hard to see a realistic trade package that the Lakers would be willing to give up on the 19-year old for.

From the sound of reports following up on Geitzeiler's account, it doesn't sound like the Lakers are rushing to trade Russell just yet. Both Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News and Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated took to Twitter to refute the Russell trade rumors (and in the case of Medina, the incorrect spelling of Russell's name):

Conferred w/ several league sources: Lakers have "definitely not" made DeAngelo Russell available, view he and Clarkson backcourt of future.

— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) January 28, 2016

@SuperCBM @hoopscritic there's no "DeAngelo" on the Lakers. But Lakers plan to keep D'Angelo

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 28, 2016

Geltzeiler later doubled down on his reporting, and Fischer reported that "teams are calling" about Russell, but a move would appear unlikely at this point. With the February 18th trade deadline fast approaching, we will get answers on the trade status of Russell and the rest of his teammates soon enough. The one thing you can be sure of, according to his birth certificate and the Lakers' roster anonymous Silver Screen and Roll sources, is that the spelling of his name is "D'Angelo Russell."

You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen.