At 18-13, the Lakers are a good team that is still a move or two away from being great. They took a step toward that direction on Sunday afternoon, trading D'Angelo Russell to the Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. On the surface, this trade may seem perplexing.
Russell is the more dynamic scorer, yet the Lakers were the ones giving up picks. Los Angeles needs players to prop up their No. 21 defense, and Finney-Smith is a major upgrade on that end of the floor.
He's a better fit on paper than Russell was. Did the Lakers give up too much in order to acquire Finney-Smith and Milton? Here's an instant grade for both teams involved in the trade. D'Angelo Russell for Dorian Finney-Smith trade details Lakers receive: Dorian Finney-Smith Shake Milton Nets receive: D'Angelo Russell Maxwell Lewis 2027, 2030, 2031 second-round picks MORE: Trade details of Lakers-Nets swap Lakers grade: B At 31, Finney-Smith is still a good 3-and-D role player.
He was averaging 10.4 points on a very solid 43.5 percent from deep for the Nets this season.
The Lakers need 3-point shooting — they rank 27th in 3-point makes this year. He will help there. He's also expanded his game in a bigger role in Brooklyn, doing more than simply catching and shooting jump shots.
While Russell was hitting only 33.3 percent of his 3's this season, he had been a good volume 3-point shooter for the Lakers in the past. He became expendable because of his unsteady play and mistake-prone defense.
JJ R.