Lakers Fans Applaud Rumored D'Angelo Russell Trade as LA Lands Dorian Finney-Smith

For the second time in his career, D'Angelo Russell is being traded to the Brooklyn Nets from the Los Angeles Lakers.

This time, Russell is being packaged with Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

The trade makes sense for both teams. Brooklyn gets Russell's expiring contract and future draft capital, a win-win for their rebuild efforts.

The Lakers, meanwhile, get a solid 3-and-D wing in DFS in exchange for Russell, who was coming off the bench for the Lakers and has generally been a disappointment in Los Angeles.

While there were some Lakers fans who would have preferred a splashier move, the trade was generally seen as a positive for Los Angeles:

Once Russell was moved to the bench in early November, some form of Sunday's trade felt inevitable, if not imminent.. With the Lakers transitioning to a starting backcourt of Austin Reaves and Max Christie—and with LeBron James' playmaking mitigating the loss of a point guard like Russell—it's an easy enough decision to justify.

The Lakers are 14-9 since that decision.

Yes, Los Angeles still has other needs on the roster. A third star certainly wouldn't hurt, though the team would have to give up all its remaining future first-round picks to pull off such a deal.

More realistically, adding a starting-level center to pair with Anthony Davis would be a logical addition. Another playmaking guard wouldn't hurt either.

But on balance, Sunday's move was the sort of trade that won't inspire major excitement for many fans, but nonetheless is the type of deal the Lakers needed to make. If Finney-Smith plays up to his 3-and-D reputation, he'll be a valuable role player for the Lakers going forward.

Russell, on the other hand, had simply worn out his welcome.