Lakers trade D'Angelo Russell to Nets in 4-player deal

The Los Angeles Lakers have tradedD'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, it was announced Sunday.

The Lakers sent their own second-round picks in 2027, 2030 and 2031 to the Nets.

Russell, the second 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 point guard returns to the Nets, where he played for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, when he earned his only All-Star selection.

The move gives the Lakers a versatile 3-and-D player in Finney-Smith. The 31-year-old averaged 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season for the Nets, with whom he has played since arriving in the Kyrie Irving trade from the Dallas Mavericks in February 2023.

Finney-Smith is shooting a career-high 43.5% from 3 this season and is known as a high-level wing defender.

Finney-Smith 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. He is on pace to average at least 10 points in a season for the second time in his career.

"With this trade, we are thrilled to add the physicality, toughness and elite shooting that Dorian Finney-Smith will bring to our core," Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. "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."

Lakers coach JJ Redick has preached positional versatility and toughness in his roster -- attributes the franchise's addition should help with. Los Angeles also creates salary and luxury tax flexibility, saving a total of $15 million and moving $3.5 million below the second apron. Finney-Smith has a $15.4 million player option for next season.

Redick and Finney-Smith were teammates with the Mavericks during the 2020-21 season.

The Nets acquire draft capital and cleaner salaries moving forward, including Russell's expiring deal. Brooklyn now has 31 draft picks in the next seven years -- 15 first-rounders and 16 second-rounders -- to go along with over $60 million in cap space in the offseason.

Earlier this month, the Nets traded Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors for three second-round picks.

Russell started the first eight games of the season for the Lakers until Redick changed the starting lineup after his team lost four out of five games. Despite the bench role, Russell's production had been on the uptick. His 13 points per game on 43.2% shooting from the field and 38.6% on 3-pointers in December was better than what he averaged in November (12.5 PPG on 41.7%/32.5%) and October (10.8 PPG on 36.7%/25%).

"We want to thank D'Angelo for his second stint with us, where we celebrated some great moments and accomplishments on the court together," Pelinka said in a statement. "We want to wish him and Maxwell Lewis well in their future endeavors with the Brooklyn Nets."

Russell, despite being linked to trade discussions in February, was coming off a strong season in which he averaged 18.0 points on 45.6% shooting and 41.5% from 3 while setting a Lakers record for 3-pointers in a season with 226.

When he greeted reporters during the Lakers annual media day in September, he said, "Surprise, surprise" -- acknowledging a somewhat unexpected turn of events for him to pick up his $18.7 million player option to return to L.A. after all the trade talks and another spotty postseason performance.

Russell has been traded five times in the past 7 years.

Lewis, a 22-year-old forward taken in the second round of the 2023 draft, has seen action in seven games this season, averaging 4.1 minutes.

Milton, 28, was averaging 7.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists in his first season with the Nets.He is owed $3 million next season and $3.3 million in 2026-27.

Milton is joining his sixth NBA team in less than two years, including his third trade in 11 months.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.br/]