The Los Angeles Lakers made the move to acquire Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets. While not a blockbuster deal, it gives the Lakers role players who should fit well next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis and hopefully improve the team overall.
The Lakers have shown improvements recently, especially on the defensive end, and general manager Rob Pelinka and the front office are leaning more into that with this deal. This move alone won’t make the Lakers into championship contenders, however, and the question now is whether another trade is coming.
But if there are other moves to make it likely won’t come in the immediate future. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers are expected to see how Finney-Smith and Milton fit with the team before re-evaluating the trade market for another possible deal:
“My understanding from team and league sources…is that the Lakers are, now that they made this move, their plan is to see how DFS fits with either the starting lineup or the bench, just fits within the lineup, get some of these injured guys back…and then they want to evaluate the trade market and assess ‘What are our needs and what are we will to give up?’”
This makes sense for Pelinka and the front office as the trade deadline is still six weeks away, giving the Lakers time to figure out new rotations and lineups and see how everyone fits and where the holes in their roster are.
Many won’t care for the idea of waiting for injured players to return, but there is some positivity on that front as well with Jaxson Hayes back and both Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt returning to the practice court in some capacity.
The Lakers still have some contracts as well as their first-round picks to use in another deal, and with plenty of time before the trade deadline, Pelinka and the front office will be patient in identifying the team’s needs and scouring the market for another ideal acquisition.
LeBron James talks where Lakers stand after trade with Nets
The Lakers’ goal is always to compete for a championship and it was clear that the team was not a true contender as constructed. After the trade to acquire Finney-Smith and Milton, LeBron James feels the team is taking a step in the right direction, though he still feels they aren’t at championship level just yet.
“Right now, I think we’re a very good team,” LeBron said. “I think we have a chance to compete with anybody in the league. Are we at a championship level? Can we win a championship right now? No, I don’t think so. But that’s good because we have so much room for improvement, and we just added two new guys as well in DoeDoe (Dorian-Finney Smith) and Shake [Milton]. So we’ll see how we incorporate those guys. That should be fun as well. I’m happy that they’re here. But we’ll see.”
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