The Lakers trade D’Angelo Russell to the Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton

The Los Angeles Lakers traded point guard D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.

Finney-Smith is a better fit for a Lakers lineup that needs to shoot and defend on the wing. The nine-year veteran is averaging 10.4 points (second-best of his career) and 4.6 rebounds while shooting a career-best 44% (47-of-108) from 3s.

In his second stint with the Lakers this season, Russell underperformed, averaging a career-low 12.4 points and 4.7 assists while shooting 33% on 3-pointers. He returns to Brooklyn, where he was an All-Star in 2018-19, replacing Dennis Schröder, who was traded to the Golden State Warriors two weeks ago.

Lakers coach JJ Redick moved Russell to a reserve role to provide scoring and game control off the bench. But his defense often proved problematic, leading to third-year guard Max Christie getting a larger role.

Russell, 28, is in the final year of his contract and will be paid $18.7 million this season. Finney-Smith, 31, has a salary of $14.9 million with a player option for next season to pay him $15.4 million.

Milton should provide additional defense and playmaking to the Lakers’ second unit. After Schröder was substituted, he moved into the Nets’ starting lineup. He scored a total of 36 points in his last two games and had 12 assists in Friday’s 96-87 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. For the season, Milton averaged 7.4 points and 2.4 assists.

Also included in the package going to Brooklyn are reserve forward Maxwell Lewis and three second-round draft picks.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.