The Los Angeles Lakers have completed a trade with the Brooklyn Nets to send D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round draft picks to New York in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, as reported by journalist Shams Charania.
In the trade, the Lakers give up two players who will be free agents in the summer. Russell is in the final year of his contract, for which he will earn $18 million, and Lewis ($1.891 million) has one year left but is a team option. Brooklyn is in the midst of a rebuilding process.
The Lakers, however, receive players on a more medium-term basis. Finney-Smith, almost $15 million this year, has one more year than player option and could activate or go to the free agent market, but Milton ($2.875 million), has two more years left on his contract for which he will receive $3 million in each of them.
Russell, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 Draft, is averaging 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 26.3 minutes per game this season. The 28-year-old will return to the Nets, where he played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. He was an All-Star in the latter season.
Finney-Smith, somewhat older at 31, is averaging 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds for Jordi Fernandez’s team. He joined the Nets in the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks in February 2023.
Milton and Lewis, involved in the operation, contribute less to their teams. Milton, 28, is averaging 7.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists in his first season with the Nets, while Lewis, 22, was a second-round pick in 2023 and has barely averaged 4.1 minutes in seven games.
