Lakers upgrade D’Angelo Russell’s status for Tuesday’s big matchup vs. Grizzlies

D’Angelo Russell was arguably the biggest addition that the Los Angeles Lakers made at the trade deadline, but he has only played in four games with the team up to this point.

He’s been out with an ankle injury since Feb. 23, and while he’s been absent for quite some time now, things are seemingly trending in the right direction.

Russell’s status for his team’s Tuesday matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies has been upgraded to questionable.

It remains unclear if Russell will ultimately be able to go in Tuesday’s game, but the fact that he is now listed as questionable is a sign that his ankle is starting to improve. With that in mind, it was reported earlier on Monday that Russell still is experiencing pain in his ankle, especially when making lateral movements.

The Lakers want that pain to completely dissipate before putting Russell back on the floor.

Behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Russell is arguably the Lakers’ most talented offensive weapon. The one-time All-Star is an impressive scorer and playmaker and has had a solid 2022-23 campaign thus far.

On the season, he’s putting up 17.6 points, 6.1 assists and 3.1 boards per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from deep.

So far with the Lakers, he’s put up 13.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 boards per game. His shooting splits are down a bit compared to his season numbers, but that’s not all that surprising. After all, he was still just starting to get up to speed with his new teammates when the ankle injury forced him out of L.A.’s lineup.

Whether Russell is able to return for Tuesday’s game, or sometime later this week, there is no doubt that the Lakers will benefit greatly when he does retake the floor.

Davis has been keeping the Lakers afloat recently with both James and Russell out of the rotation.

The Lakers are going to need all the weapons that they can get in order to keep rising up the standings in the Western Conference. Right now, they are just a half-game back from claiming the No. 9 seed in the West and are just 2.5 games back from the No. 6 seed, the final seed to advance directly into the playoff bracket without having to compete in the play-in tournament.

Though the Lakers are quite injured right now, the hope is that they will continue to get more healthy as the season progresses. Russell’s return would be a huge step in the right direction on that front.