The Los Angeles Lakers have one of the best young cores in the NBA and the hope is that these players will be able to grow and develop together to form one of the league’s up-and-coming teams. D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., and Brandon Ingram form the foundation of this Lakers team.
Clarkson has already received his payday and Ingram is only a rookie so he has many years left with the franchise as well. The Lakers have now made the expected moves to make sure the other three stay around as well.
The Lakers officially announced that they have picked up the options on Russell, Randle, and Nance for the 2017-18 season:
The Los Angeles Lakers have exercised their team options for the 2017-18 season on forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Julius Randle, and guard D’Angelo Russell, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
For Randle, this would be his fourth-year option which is his final one. After next year Randle will become a restricted free agent. For Russell and Nance that would mark their third-year options. The Lakers still hold another team option for each of their fourth years as is normal for first-round draft picks.
These are very much obvious and expected moves to make for the Lakers. Russell is the team’s point guard of the future and is looking like a prime candidate for a breakout season this season. Randle has been praised by the coaching staff for the work he has put in throughout the offseason and Nance has continued to be one of the Lakers’ best all-around players this preseason.
The Lakers foundation has the chance to be very special as the develop and the Lakers are making sure they stay together for the foreseeable future. This is just more reason for fans to get excited.
