The Los Angeles Lakers play their first game on Tuesday night since trading away D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. It’s a trade that brings more balance to the Lakers roster behind their superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis with more wing depth and improved defense.
Both players are slated to make their Lakers debut on Tuesday night as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the final game before the calendar flips to 2025. There is perhaps no better test for L.A.’s two new players than facing off against the team with the best record in the NBA.
James spoke about the trade and what he thinks the two new players will bring, while also giving a shoutout to Russell and Lewis for their contributions.
“First of all, shoutout, big shout to DLo and Max Lew,” LeBron said. “Obviously brothers of ours and you hate to see anyone leave at any point in the season.
“To piggyback what you said, obviously they bring experience, they bring toughness and guys that played in big games that mastered their roles throughout their career. And I’m looking forward to them getting into our system and making an immediate impact whenever their number is called. So that should be fun.”
Finney-Smith and Milton undoubtedly make the Lakers a better team than they were before the trade. And they were able to do so without parting ways with significant assets. But LeBron’s assessment of the Lakers is that they still have work to do to compete for a championship.
“Right now, I think we’re a very good team. 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.”
It’s hard to imagine the rotation with Finney-Smith and Milton will be a finished product on night one, but it will be interesting to see how the Lakers look with some legitimate wing depth, something they haven’t had since the 2020-21 season.
Dorian Finney-Smith excited for meaningful basketball with Lakers
Dorian Finney-Smith has been rumored to be in the Lakers’ crosshairs for quite some time. He checks many boxes the team is looking for, especially on the defensive end of the basketball floor.
On Monday, Finney-Smith spoke to the media in Los Angeles for the first time since the team was finalized. The veteran forward seems to be thrilled for a fresh start with the Lakers and a chance to play for a team that is looking to win rather than looking toward the NBA draft lottery.
“I’m excited. I’m back to playing some meaningful basketball,” Finney-Smith said. “It’s been a while, but I’m excited.”
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