The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets made a move on Sunday, combining on a trade before the year expires.
Brooklyn, which is playing for draft positioning this season, sent guard Shake Milton and forward Dorian Finney-Smith to LA in exchange for guard D’Angelo Russell, who played for the Nets from 2017-19, second-year wing Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks. As far as trades go, this one isn’t a blockbuster, but there are a lot of moving parts.
Russell, who is averaging 12.4 points and 4.7 assists per game this season, has been one of several different players the Lakers have tried in their fifth starting spot this year. With the Nets, he’ll be asked to shoulder more of an offensive load, particularly with Cam Thomas still sidelined and Dennis Schroeder being traded to Golden State.
Finney-Smith, meanwhile, gives the Lakers some needed defensive help and three-point shooting as the team tries to solidify its standing in the rugged Western Conference.
Hoops fans have been discussing the move on social media this afternoon.
“D’Angelo Russell gonna switch between the Lakers and Nets for his entire career,” joked Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh.
“Dlo tank commander moves me sadly,” said a Knicks fan.
“Trade market finally coming back to earth? I feel like 2 years ago they’d have gotten 2 firsts or something for DFS,” said writer Sam Esfandiari.
“No first round pick out. Hard to argue with the value. Lewis probably not a prospect of note. We critique Pelinka a lot but h/t when he gets it done,” a Lakers fan said.
“I love this for the Lakers. It’s the exact right kind of trade. They rebalance the roster with a solid role player at a position of need without sacrificing either of the critical first-round picks. They dip a toe in the water without diving all in, which was the right play,” chimed in CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn.
The Nets are currently 12-19 and in 12th place in the East, while the Lakers are 18-13 and in fifth place in the West.
We’d expect both teams to make more deals in the weeks leading up to the February trade deadline.