Lakers' Updated Roster, Salary Cap, NBA Draft Picks After D'Angelo Russell Trade
The Los Angeles Lakers are upgrading their supporting cast around LeBron James and Anthony Davis and in the process leaving open the opportunity to return to the trade table.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday that Los Angeles has agreed to trade guard D'Angelo Russell, forward Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton.
While the full draft compensation is unclear, the Lakers maintain the ability to ship out one or more of their first-rounders.
Swapping Russell for Finney-Smith and Milton offers them a little bit of wiggle room financially too.
Here's what the depth chart looks like when accounting for Sunday's transaction:
Lakers Depth Chart
PG: Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Quincy Olivari
SG: Max Christie, Shake Milton, Dalton Knecht
SF: Rui Hachimura, Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish
PF: LeBron James, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Reddish
C: Anthony Davis, Jaxson Hayes, Christian Koloko
Finney-Smith brings the three-and-D presence that L.A. sorely needed. He's a career 35.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc and hitting a career-high 43.5 percent of his opportunities so far this year. Even assuming his efficiency regresses a bit, he'll open up space for James and Davis offensively while providing significantly more defense than Russell.
Milton, meanwhile, gives the Lakers some more backcourt depth with Gabe Vincent picking up an oblique injury. Even before the injury, Vincent hasn't performed up to expectations since signing his $33 million deal.
Although improving around the margins will undoubtedly help Los Angeles on the court, fans wouldn't be wrong in hoping for more before the trade deadline.
The Lakers have won five of their last six games, but Finney-Smith and Milton aren't going to catapult them to the top of the Western Conference. With that in mind, dealing Russell could complicate the pursuit of another trade, especially if general manager Rob Pelinka wants to go big-game hunting.
Russell has an $18.7 million salary for this season, and that would've accounted for a sizable chunk of a max deal that accompanies any notable star. Now, Pelinka is left to package together any of Rui Hachimura ($17 million), Austin Reaves ($13 million), Vincent ($11 million) or Jarred Vanderbilt ($10.7 million).
Sunday's transaction could signal Pelinka's general approach to the deadline. Much like how he reshuffled the roster midway through 2022-23, he may decide multiple supplemental trades are worth more than one blockbuster.
