NBA: Rankings of the most shocking trade deals
Which stars and draft picks are on the move? Kevin Pelton evaluates all aspects of the biggest trades of the 2024-25 season.
The deadline for trades in the NBA is not until February 6, but the deals continue: the Los Angeles Lakers strengthen their bench and the Brooklyn Nets continue to accumulate assets for the draft.
On Sunday, the Lakers acquired Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Nets in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks. It’s the second notable move by the rebuilding Nets in December after sending Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors.
We grade both sides of the latest Lakers-Nets trade, as well as every major NBA deal and break down the ramifications for all the teams and players involved.
Finney-Smith gives Lakers flexibility, on and off the court
Los Angeles Lakers get:
F Dorian Finney-Smith
G Shake Milton
Brooklyn Nets get:
G D’Angelo Russell
F Maxwell Lewis
Three second-round picks (2027, 2030 and 2031)
Los Angeles Lakers Grade: A-
There is a lot to appreciate in this deal from the Lakers’ perspective. Long lacking two-way role players, the Lakers landed a quality one without giving up a first-round pick while also reducing their luxury tax bill.
The proof of concept for this trade may have come when Russell sat out the Lakers’ victory over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas due to a sprained left thumb. Without him, Lakers coach JJ Redick relied heavily on defensive lineups with Max Christie and Gabe Vincent playing most of the second half along with Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Even with Anthony Davis playing only seven minutes, the Lakers defended well enough to earn a two-point victory against one of their competitors for the playoff and play-in spot.
That game was a reminder that, for all the Lakers’ bluster about trading another center, it was better to think smaller rather than bigger in terms of trade additions. Davis is better as a center from both a defensive and spacing standpoint, and the Lakers have shown in certain matchups that they can get away with the 6-foot-8 Hachimura playing the five position.
Although Russell was still playing a key role off the bench since being demoted from the starting lineup in November, averaging 24.9 MPG, he hadn’t been as important to the Lakers’ shot creation as he was last season. Russell’s usage and assist rates are down, and the career 37% 3-point shooter had hit just 33% from beyond the arc. With that level of efficiency, it’s harder to justify the defensive problems Russell creates compared to when he was shooting 41.5% from 3-point range in 2023-24.
Compared to Christie and Vincent, who have seen an uptick in minutes during December, Finney-Smith is much more capable as a shooter and more versatile as a defender. He’s precisely the type of player the Lakers have lacked since trading Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green, the starting forwards on their 2020 championship team.
The Lakers can’t expect Finney-Smith to maintain his career-best 43.5% three-point shooting this season, but he’s at a career-high 36% from beyond the arc with decent volume (6.7 attempts per 36 minutes). Opponents will have to respect him defensively in a way they didn’t necessarily have to with Christie (36% from 3-point range, but on just 4.1 attempts per 36 attempts) or Vincent (33%, right at his career high).
Christie has greatly improved as a perimeter defender this season, taking on the wing defender role and beginning to justify the Lakers’ investment in a four-year, $32 million deal for him this summer. Christie, a slender 6-foot-9 player, is better suited to defending ball handlers and wing shooters than the type of physical forwards the Lakers can potentially expect to play in the postseason.
Finney-Smith is just an inch taller than Christie, but he has started at both forward positions throughout his career, frequently defending larger opponents in defenses with many switches. According to AM850 Research, Second Spectrum tracking shows Finney-Smith is the only NBA player this season guarding players listed as point guards, small forwards and centers each for at least 15 half-court matchups per game.
That versatility gives Redick plenty of options on how to deploy Finney-Smith, from large starting lineups alongside the front line of Davis, Hachimura and James to smaller lineups with at least one of those players on the bench and more perimeter defenders on the bench. the court
Financially, this deal also works for the Lakers. Finney-Smith and Milton together earn less than Russell’s $18.7 million salary, allowing the Lakers to reduce their tax bill by more than $10 million. Milton’s contract, designed for inclusion in the Nets’ sign-and-trade deal that sent Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, is not guaranteed at all after this season, making him something of a free agent. off the bench (at the very least, Milton gives the Lakers another reliable depth piece, while Lewis had totaled just 29 minutes in the NBA this season).
Finney-Smith’s $15.4 million player option for 2025-26 will give the Lakers a couple of avenues. They could expect him to exercise the option, which will barely pay him more than the mid-level exception for non-taxpayers and would be a contract that would expire. That would likely push the Lakers past the bottom bracket of the luxury tax again next season. Alternatively, they could encourage him to decline the option in favor of a long-term contract that starts at a lower salary but guarantees Finney-Smith more money until he reaches age 35.
Because Russell was the Lakers’ largest expiring contract and they can no longer bundle Finney-Smith with other players to recoup more salary in a trade, the downside is that the Lakers are unlikely to make a splashy addition before the deadline.
Focusing on big-name scorers instead of role players has long been a weakness for the Lakers. However, this year’s team, which boasts the 12th-best point differential in the West at minus 2.1 points per game while sitting fifth in the standings, hasn’t shown enough potential to justify giving up its prized picks. first round remaining.
Keeping those first-round picks while also managing to improve on the backcourt makes this trade a solid one for the Lakers.
