Lakers send Russell to Nets in trade for Finney-Smith, Milton

LOS ANGELES (AP):

The Los Angeles Lakers have traded guard D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton.

The Lakers also sent forward Maxwell Lewis and three second-round draft picks to Brooklyn yesterday.

Russell averaged a career-low 12.4 points for the Lakers this season in a diminished role under new coach JJ Redick, who had vowed to unlock the point guard’s formidable offensive game. Instead, Russell was removed from the starting line-up in early November, and he struggled to make a consistent impact as a reserve, with his shooting percentages declining significantly from his previous two seasons back in Los Angeles.

The 6-foot-7 Finney-Smith isn’t a top scorer, but he is a steady 3-and-D wing who fills an obvious need for the Lakers. Los Angeles has had inconsistent wing play and has lacked an effective defender at the key position during the long-term injury absence of Jarred Vanderbilt, who hasn’t played since February 1.

Finney-Smith averaged 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds while hitting a career-best 43.5 per cent of his 3-point attempts this season for the Nets, who acquired him from Dallas in February 2023 in the trade of Kyrie Irving. Finney-Smith has been limited to five games this month by a sprained ankle and a bruised calf, but the 31-year-old played 27 minutes against San Antonio on Friday.

“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 general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “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.”

Redick and Finney-Smith were teammates with the Mavericks during the 2020-21 season, and Redick has expressed admiration for Finney-Smith’s hard-nosed game.

Milton is joining his sixth NBA team in less than two years, including his third trade in 11 months. He is averaging 7.4 points and 2.4 assists this season as a Nets reserve.

Russell is being traded by the Lakers to the Nets for the second time in his career. He also made the move in 2017 after spending his first two NBA seasons with Los Angeles, which drafted him in 2015. Russell earned the only All-Star selection of his career during his two seasons in Brooklyn.