The Los Angeles Lakers have finally made a move! After months of speculation and trade rumors, the team has finally decided to start retooling the roster. While the team could have made a big swing for a star, the team doesn’t have many resources. More than likely, they would opt to acquire multiple quality role players to build around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. On Sunday, the Lakers made a trade with the Brooklyn Nets, acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith.
Los Angeles Lakers Acquire Dorian Finney-Smith
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Sunday morning that the Los Angeles Lakers are sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets. In exchange, the team gets 3-and-D player Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Finney-Smith was one of the hottest names on the market. The Nets are looking to sell off many of their pieces and acquire draft capital. The veteran is having a quality season for Brooklyn.
He is shooting 43.5% from three-point range this season, which is a career-high. Historically, surrounding James with shooters is a good strategy for winning games. It also helps that Finney-Smith can help the Los Angeles Lakers’ defense. They lacked an elite defender who could shut down the top-tier scorers in the league. Now, they have someone who can slow down scorers and hit threes. It is exactly the type of trade the team needed.
What Does The Trade Mean For Both Teams?
For the Los Angeles Lakers, they do save some money, and they also get rid of Russell. He has been inconsistent this season, and many fans, and even teammates, have become visibly frustrated. JJ Reddick has benched the former top-five pick this season. They eliminated that distraction while also upgrading the roster. It isn’t all bad for Russell; he made an All-Star team with the Nets a half-decade ago and now has more freedom to be the primary ball-handler.
It also cleans the salary books for the Nets. They are trying to get themselves in a position to get Cooper Flagg and other players in the future. Since trading Mikal Bridges this offseason, they have been in full rebuild mode. The Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden experiment didn’t work, and I applaud the Nets for making the decision to blow it up instead of middling around in the middle.
Final Thoughts
The NBA trade season is officially here! Often, once one team makes a move, the dominoes start to fall. Other teams feel the pressure to start making moves before all of the available pieces are taken. It will be interesting to see if this kicks off a flurry of trades or whether teams remain patient.
