The Los Angeles Lakers are trading veteran point guard D'Angelo Russell and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for wing Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton, according to ESPN. The deal ends Russell's tumultuous second tenure with the Lakers, which was defined by constant trade rumors as the team struggled to replicate the success of its 2023 trip to the Western Conference Finals.
In his place, the Lakers land Finney-Smith, a solid supporting wing who does exactly what the Lakers need. Although his 3-point shooting is somewhat inconsistent, Finney-Smith is making 43.5 percent of his triples so far this season, and he was doing so on a Nets team with fairly limited shot creation. He will now have LeBron James to groom him deep, potentially recreating the success he had with Luka Doncic on the Dallas Mavericks.
Defensively, Finney-Smith is a long, sturdy 6-foot-7 wing. While he's not as fast as he was earlier in his career, he should form a nice duo with Max Christie, who is now 7-2 as a starter this season. Christie isn't as strong as Finney-Smith, but he's better suited to small guard defense, and now that his shooting has stabilized, the two form a versatile supporting wing duo with James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves as the team's leading scorers.
Russell, meanwhile, returns to Brooklyn, where he was an All-Star in 2019 and is expected to replace Dennis Schroder, who was traded to the Golden State Warriors, as the stabilizing veteran guard on their roster. It remains to be seen how long he will stay with the Nets. Part of the reason the Nets traded Schroder in the first place was because his presence was winning them too many games. The Nets traded away a slew of other teams' future picks to regain control of their own first-round picks in 2025 and 2026, so losing is Brooklyn's goal right now. It's too early to tell where Russell fits, but if he receives more interest on the trade market, the Nets will likely explore him.
The Nets and Lakers will likely continue to explore the market as a whole. The Lakers were looking for a true backup center to potentially play some minutes with Davis, but mostly to spell him while he rests. The Nets still have other veterans who could bring in significant trade packages, including Cam Johnson. But for now, the deal seems to make sense for both parties. The Nets continue their reconstruction while the Lakers take a step towards protest.
