Los Angeles Lakers: Grading every move of Magic Johnson’s tenure
By Jason Reed
Trading D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets — A+
- Date: June 22, 2017
The first big move that the Los Angeles Lakers made under Magic Johnson’s leadership was a deal that sent former second overall pick, D’Angelo Russell, and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Brook Lopez and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 27 overall draft pick.
Prior to this move, it was well believed that the Lakers were going to part ways with one of the team’s young talents in order to free up either Mozgov’s or Luol Deng‘s contract. Those two contracts were two huge sore spots that were agreed to in the Jim Buss era that would have prevented the Lakers from making any big moves.
With promising UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball in the draft class, it was well expected that Russell would either be traded or moved to the two to make room for Ball.
The Lakers opted to trade Russell and it worked out great for the team. The team got Ball in return, who could have been better in his rookie year statistically but was more proficient in helping the team win games.
Los Angeles also received Brook Lopez, who was a nice one-year filler at center as well as the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, which turned out great for the Lakers. This trade was first announced two days prior to the draft and finalized on draft night.