After dealing Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors two weeks ago, the Brooklyn Nets have now moved another of their veterans in a notable Sunday trade with the Los Angeles Lakers.
As first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, the Lakers have sent D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.
The Lakers came to a D'Angelo Russell realization the Warriors made long ago
Los Angeles trumped the Memphis Grizzlies who had emerged as a strong suitor for Finney-Smith on Saturday, with the 3-and-D wing having shot an incredibly efficient 43.5% from beyond the arc on over five attempts with the Nets this season.
Russell has been perennially involved in trade speculation during his second stint with the Lakers. It's the fifth time the former second overall pick has been traded in his career, including the sign-and-trade that sent him to Golden State in the 2019 offseason.
Russell played only 33 games for the Warriors at the start of the 2019-20 season, having averaged 23.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Despite his reasonable box score production, Golden State quickly realized that their ability to return to championship contention was going to be limited by having Russell on the roster. They quickly moved him for what essentially resulted as Andrew Wiggins and the draft rights to Jonathan Kuminga, with that proving to be a franchise-altering move as Wiggins became the second-best player on a title team in 2022.
The Warriors are still reaping the benefits of that trade as Kuminga and Wiggins now sit as the second and third-leading scorers for the franchise this season. It's unlikely that this trade will be as beneficial for the Lakers, but they undoubtedly came to the same realization that Russell was bringing more harm than good over recent times.
New head coach JJ Redick pushed Russell back to the bench after the first eight games of the season, with the 28-year-old currently averaging a career-low 12.8 points on an inefficient 41.5% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc.
It was only a matter of when Russell was going to be traded, with this deal in late December allowing the Lakers to reassess and potentially make another move prior to the February 6 deadline. As for Russell himself, his future is still very uncertain with the Nets in a full-blown rebuild before he becomes an unrestricted free agent during the offseason.