Twitter Erupts as Lakers Trade D'Angelo Russell, Timofey Mozgov for Brook Lopez

The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers made a blockbuster trade Tuesday, causing a shift around the league before Thursday's draft.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Nets will receive D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov in exchange for Brook Lopez and the No. 27 pick of the draft.  

Much of this move from the Lakers' perspective was to open things up for the future:

There are mixed opinions on whether this was a smart decision:

They also added a center who averaged 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game behind 51.1 percent shooting from the field in 2015-16 and posted 20.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season.

On the other hand, the lack of interest in Russell was a bit of a surprise:

"

D'Angelo Russell to the Nets must mean Pritchard told the Lakers that he doesn't want Russell, in any deal in exchange for Paul George.

— Jared Greenberg (@JaredSGreenberg) June 20, 2017"

The Lopez move doesn't come as much of a surprise from Brooklyn's perspective, considering trade rumors have circulated around the big man since the middle of the 2015-16 schedule. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported in February 2016 "several league executives claim that the club is willing to deal Brook Lopez."

Despite Lopez's clear talent, Brooklyn is far from contention at this point. Lopez is 29 years old and will likely be past his prime when the team is finally ready to compete for titles.

This deal allows the team to get younger and help rebuild:

Amazingly, this was all predicted by Bleacher Report's Game of Zones:

Although the Nets still need significant help before they can contend, this is a good step toward improvement.