Exactly two weeks into NBA trade season, and just past the 30-game mark they referenced before the start of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers made a splash by acquiring a 3-and-D wing.
On Sunday morning, the Lakers sent D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks (2027, 2030 and 2031) to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney Smith and Shake Milton.
“We want to thank D’Angelo for his second stint with us, where we celebrated some great moments and accomplishments on the court together,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement issued by the team. “We want to wish him and Maxwell Lewis well in their future endeavors with the Brooklyn Nets. With this trade, we are thrilled to add the physicality, toughness and elite shooting that Dorian Finney-Smith will bring to our core. We also greatly value the playmaking of Shake Milton. We are excited for our fans to get both of these players out on the court.”
Finney-Smith, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward who is shooting a career-high 43.5 percent on 3s this season and can defend multiple positions, is the type of player the Lakers have coveted for years. Their interest in Finney-Smith specifically dates back to 2023, including inquiring about trading for him last season, according to team and league sources.
The Lakers (18-13, No. 5 in the Western Conference) are excited about the positional versatility that Finney-Smith provides. He can play at either forward spot and can even play some spot center depending on the opponent and matchup (it’s easy to envision some second-unit frontlines of LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Finney-Smith, with the three switching seamlessly). The 31-year-old is the only player in the NBA this season to defend guards, forwards and centers each for at least 15 half-court matchups per game, according to Second Spectrum data.
He also becomes the Lakers’ best high-volume 3-point shooter. The Lakers only have two players — James and Austin Reaves — attempting more than five 3s per game, and neither is shooting above 36.3 percent. Finney-Smith is shooting 43.3 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s, 48.1 percent on open 3s and 42.5 percent on wide-open 3s. He’s shooting 36.9 percent on corner 3s (the type the Lakers often generate for their wings) and 45.5 percent from above the break.
In addition to his defensive versatility, Finney-Smith brings a level of toughness and physicality the Lakers have needed. Coach JJ Redick has often said the group isn’t as physical as it should be. Finney-Smith helps change that dynamic.
Redick briefly played with Finney-Smith at the end of his career in Dallas in 2021 and is a noted fan of his game from his media days.
How can u not love DFS.
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) May 8, 2022
JJ was always a fan of Dorian Finney-Smith. They were teammates briefly and DFS clearly made an impression on him. Talked about him a lot on the podcast. pic.twitter.com/3qbFyZVvSd
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) December 29, 2024
It’s unclear what the Lakers’ starting lineup will look like in the aftermath of this deal. The current starting wings, Hachimura and Max Christie, have been playing well as they have won six of eight games.Finney-Smith has been close to a full-time starter since the 2019-20 season. Early indications are that the lineup has yet to be decided.
Regardless, it’s a good problem for the Lakers to have. The most logical option is probably moving Hachimura to the bench and inserting Finney-Smith as the third frontcourt starter, giving the Lakers two 3-and-D wings — Finney-Smith and Christie — around Anthony Davis, James and Reaves. That also staggers James and Hachimura, who is more of a power forward than a small forward positionally and can take on some of the bench scoring the Lakers are losing from Russell’s departure.
The Nets’ asking price for Finney-Smith had been a first-round pick dating back to last season, according to team and league sources. They recently dropped the asking price to a lottery-protected first, and there had been buzz that the Memphis Grizzlies were considering meeting that price, according to those sources. But the Lakers became more aggressive with their offer in recent days, and the two sides came to an agreement early Sunday that didn’t require Los Angeles giving up a first-rounder. A bonus from the Lakers’ perspective was keeping Finney-Smith away from the Grizzlies, who entered Sunday second in the West.
There are parallels between this deal and the Lakers’ trade for Hachimura a couple of weeks ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. They sensed an opportunity and struck an early deal. This time, they completed one even earlier.
GO DEEPER
Trade grades: Dorian Finney-Smith a far better fit for Lakers than D’Angelo Russell
The trade creates financial flexibility for the Lakers as they move roughly $3.5 million below the collective bargaining agreement’s second apron and save a total of $15 million. Finney-Smith has a $15.4 million player option for next season. Milton is on the books for $3 million next season and $3.3 million in 2026-27.
The only potential concern for the Lakers after this trade is the amount of playmaking and ballhandling they have remaining on the roster. Los Angeles is down to James, Reaves and Vincent as their only ballhandlers in the rotation. Davis can help facilitate more in the half court, as he did earlier in the season. But the group could probably use another bench ballhandler, in addition to their need of a better backup center.
Milton, 28, is a big guard who can theoretically offset some of that concern with his scoring outbursts and playmaking. He’s averaging 7.4 points (on 46.5 percent shooting and 38.9 percent 3-point shooting) and 2.4 assists per game this season. But he projects to be on the fringes of the rotation when the Lakers are fully healthy. (Vincent suffered an oblique injury on Saturday, which could make Milton a valuable addition in the short term.)
To be clear, losing Russell hurts the Lakers. He was their third-highest-paid player for a reason ($18.7 million expiring contract) and was considered by many to be their fourth-best player. He was a ceiling-raiser — when he was on, pulling up for 3s and dissecting defenses in the pick-and-roll, the Lakers looked unbeatable at times. Before Reaves’ recent growth as a playmaker, Russell was often their second-best ballhandler and passer behind James.
D’Angelo Russell is headed to Brooklyn for his second stint with the Nets. (Jevone Moore / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
At the same time, Russell’s floor was low. The two lowlights of his Lakers tenure were his playoff performances against the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference finals (6.3 points on 32.3 percent shooting and 13.3 percent 3-point shooting) and the 2024 first round (38.4 percent shooting and 31.8 percent 3-point shooting). There was a sense that his offensive unreliability, coupled with his defensive limitations, hindered his ability to contribute as the stakes rose.
Russell had regressed offensively this season, due to a combination of the Lakers emphasizing larger offensive workloads for Davis and Reaves and Russell’s decline as a scorer and shooter compared to last season. With Reaves continuing to develop as a primary ballhandler, the Lakers were comfortable moving Russell to the bench early in the season, minimizing his role to be less dependent on him offensively and, ultimately, trading him.
This trade confirms that Reaves is the Lakers’ primary ballhandler and playmaker alongside James moving forward. Reaves had double-digit assists in back-to-back games — including a career-high 16 assists on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings — and has shown considerable growth as a passer dating back to the second half of the 2023-24 season. The Lakers are 14-3 this season when he has five or more assists.
Coincidentally, Lewis, 22, is the player the Lakers last acquired in a trade — they traded for him as the No. 40 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He’s only played in seven games this season, though he has shown growth in the G League as a scorer and weakside decision-maker.
As The Athletic previously reported, the Lakers have been patient on the trade front, aiming to use their first-round picks (they have access to their 2029, 2030 and/or 2031 first-rounders but can trade two of those — 2029 and 2031 — at most) closer to the trade deadline when they had a better gauge on their roster. But the exception to that approach, according to team and league sources earlier in the month, was a shorter-term opportunity to trade for Jonas Valančiūnas, Cam Johnson and/or Finney-Smith. The Lakers have had an interest in Valančiūnas dating back to the summer. Brooklyn, of course, pivoted to being sellers when it traded Dennis Schröder to Golden State on Dec. 15.
As for what’s next, the Lakers will continue to scour the trade market ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline for potential upgrades, according to team and league sources. But the plan, for now, is to see how Finney-Smith looks with the group, get their injured frontcourt players back (Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood) and continue to assess the roster as the deadline approaches. In addition to the first-round picks, they have three pick swaps (2026, 2028 and 2030) and two second-round picks to trade.
Ultimately, this move was about better positioning the Lakers for the playoffs as much as anything. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, the Lakers are confident Finney-Smith is a playoff-caliber rotation player for a good team. The same couldn’t be said for Russell. Los Angeles added a big, tough wing who can defend multiple positions and operate as a solid floor-spacer. The fact that they were able to make that upgrade and not give up a first-round pick is a masterstroke from Pelinka and the front office.
Twenty-two months after their last trade of consequence, the Lakers improved their roster in the short term and still have the flexibility to do so again in the future. That’s a rare win-win.
(Top photo of Dorian Finney-Smith: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
