In a shocking midseason shake-up, the Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Nets on Sunday in alternate for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. This transfer supplies Los Angeles with a flexible three-and-D wing and a reliable backup level guard with out sacrificing a first-round choose. Moreover, the commerce enhances the workforce’s monetary flexibility for potential strikes later this season.
This deal represents a big improve over Russell, defensively and by way of roster steadiness for the Lakers.
Russell was a obvious defensive legal responsibility for L.A. this season, allowing opponents to shoot 49.4% from the field against him — the second-worst mark among the many workforce’s rotation gamers. His defensive shortcomings have been compounded by averaging just 2.7 contested shots per game — roughly half of what Austin Reaves and Max Christie generate in comparable minutes — whereas contributing a modest 2.8 rebounds per contest.
Offensively, Russell additionally struggled, scoring solely 12.4 factors per recreation on 41.5% taking pictures from the sphere and posting a 53.7% true shooting percentage — higher than solely Gabe Vincent among the many Lakers’ common rotation gamers. This season, Russell has been a shoot-first guard who has struggled with inefficiency, lacked consistency and sometimes appeared disengaged on each ends of the ground.
Instead of Russell, the Lakers add Finney-Smith, one of many NBA’s premier three-and-D wings. Although the Nets steadily misused the 6-foot-7 ahead this season — assigning him to defend greater gamers like Jaren Jackson Jr. (56.7 possessions), Giannis Antetokounmpo (39.2 possessions), and Nikola Jokic (32.6 possessions), which skewed a few of his defensive metrics — Finney-Smith has excelled when matched up against guards and wings. He’s held Donovan Mitchell to twenty.0% taking pictures, Jayson Tatum to 33.3% and Jamal Murray to twenty.0% this 12 months, amongst others.
Digging deeper, Finney-Smith is way over only a sturdy one-on-one defender. He’s stable on the boards for his dimension, boasting a profession common of 8.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. His means to shut out on shooters can be elite, significantly on the three-point line. This season, he’s held opponents to simply 35.2% shooting from the coveted corner-three spot — the most effective mark amongst all Nets rotation gamers and one that may rank third on the Lakers.
Offensively, Finney-Smith is among the high long-distance marksmen within the affiliation, ranking 21st in three-point shooting at 43.5%. Past his perimeter recreation, Finney-Smith can be one of many league’s greatest transition finishers, averaging 1.35 points per possession in the open court — inserting him within the 88th percentile league-wide.
Milton, the opposite participant becoming a member of the Lakers, is way from a mere throw-in. Whereas he’s been traded 5 instances over the previous season and a half, Milton was a dependable presence within the 76ers’ rotation from 2018 to 2023, offering constant scoring and playmaking off the bench. At 6-foot-5 and 205 kilos, he has the prototypical dimension to defend opposing level guards successfully.
There’s a robust case to be made that Milton is a direct improve over the Lakers’ present backup level guard, Vincent. Though Vincent has proven enchancment lately, he’s nonetheless averaging simply 4.3 factors per recreation on 33.0% taking pictures from three this season, leaving room for Milton to make a big impression.
The Lakers, winners of six of their final eight video games, at the moment sit at 18-13, holding fifth place within the extremely aggressive Western Convention regardless of underwhelming play from Russell on each ends of the ground. With this commerce, L.A. has addressed two essential wants by buying one of many league’s premier three-and-D wings in Finney-Smith, bolstering their perimeter protection and three-point taking pictures, and including a dependable scoring guard in Milton to energise their bench. These upgrades place the Lakers to strengthen their roster and make a severe push to climb even larger within the standings.
