Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers front office pulled off a big trade over the weekend, acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks.
Before the Lakers swooped in, it was believed that the Nets were nearing a deal to send Finney-Smith to the Memphis Grizzlies, who were even offering a first-round pick. However, the protections that would have been on that pick, along with some other things, led Brooklyn to lean towards the Lakers offer.
According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, the Nets not having to send anything else in the deal aside from Finney-Smith and Milton, along with the first-round pick Memphis offered being heavily protected, made the deal from the Lakers more attractive:
The first-round pick that the Nets were seeking from the Grizzlies was going to be heavily protected. One league source says it was a top-17-protected pick from Memphis in the upcoming June draft. Brooklyn decided to take three second-round picks (two unprotected) from the Lakers instead … increasing their stockpile of second-rounders over the next seven years (from the 2025 draft through 2031) to a whopping 16.
A deal with Memphis would have required Brooklyn to send a second-round pick or two to the Grizzlies and take on some salary. The Nets gave up nothing in the deal they ended up doing with the Lakers beyond Finney-Smith and Shake Milton … neither of whom was in the team’s future plans.
Second-round picks are becoming more attractive in deals lately and the Lakers were able to use that to their advantage in this deal. The Grizzlies’ first-rounder simply didn’t hold as much weight with how low it would have needed to fall to convey to the Nets. Not having to take on additional salary or send a pick back to the Lakers also helped sway them towards that move and overall it’s a win-win for both side.
Pelinka has been hard at work looking to improve this roster and he now brings a legit 3-and-D wing in Finney-Smith to help the Lakers along with another potential rotation combo guard in Milton. And there is still plenty of time for more trades to be made as well.
Former Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell looking forward to opportunity with Nets
Of course the Lakers bringing in Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton means they had to send away some players as well and the big name being dealt to the Nets is D’Angelo Russell. The point guard had his best individual seasons in his first stint in Brooklyn and is looking forward to returning.
It was reported that Russell is looking forward to the opportunity ahead of him with the Nets. With Russell set to hit free agency this summer, he is in line for a more prominent role in Brooklyn than he was seeing with the Lakers and can parlay that into a good deal this offseason.
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