The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets completed a 4 player, multi-pick deal on Sunday which will see guard D’Angelo Russell and Maxwell Lewis join the Nets. In addition to the players, 3 second round picks will also be sent to Brooklyn for the 2027, 2030, and 2031 NBA draft classes.
Coming back to Los Angeles is Dorian Finney-Smith, and Shake Milton. The deal gives LA a versatile wing defender in Finney-Smith who also happens to be showing a career high 43.5% from beyond the 3pt line this season. His skillset lines up with the vision which new Lakers head coach JJ Redick has espoused, and should add some grit to a Lakers lineup in desperate need of it.
Meanwhile, Russell rejoins the Nets, whom he played for during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. His expiring deal lines up with the roadmap Brooklyn’s front office has laid out for the direction of the franchise moving forward.
When all is said and done, Brooklyn will now have 31 draft picks over the next 7 years including 15 first rounders and 16 second rounders. That kind of draft capital is reminiscent of what Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti accumulated as he helped turn around the Thunder out west.
In addition to the picks, the Nets will also feature close to $60M worth of cap space this offseason which they can use to retool their roster as well. Currently 12-19 on the season, Brooklyn began the year with a surprisingly frisky record through the first month of games. A feat that while impressive, ultimately didn’t move the needle in the direction that ownership wanted.
As such, the Nets have gotten a jump on shipping off assets, sending Dennis Schroder to the Warriors earlier this month, and now dealing Finney-Smith and Milton to the Lakers. While the moves will undoubtedly improve the team’s “tanking” strategy, they still have a ways to go to catch the likes of Washington Wizards (5-24) or Toronto Raptors (7-24).
The Lakers next game is Tuesday at home against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Nets will play the Orlando Magic in a 3:30pm ET showdown on Sunday.
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.