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NBA Trade Grades: Lakers trade D’Angelo Russell to Nets for Brook Lopez

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 10, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) reacts during the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) reacts during the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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NBA Trade Grades
Mar 9, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell (1) dribbles against the Phoenix Suns during the first half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Brooklyn Nets

It feels silly to say this about a team that went 20-62 last year, but it really is impressive what Sean Marks has already done with such a bare cupboard of assets. This trade for D’Angelo Russell is his finest accomplishment to date.

Yes, the Nets have to take on Mozgov’s albatross of a contract, which will pay him $54 million over the next three seasons, but according to Sporting News‘ Sean Deveney, they were reportedly in the market to absorb ugly contracts with assets attached anyway. It makes sense given their abundance of cap space, making Mozzy’s deal more than worth the price of adding Russell.

Jeremy Lin supporters probably won’t be thrilled with this move, but Russell is a 21-year-old who averaged 15.6 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game on 35.2 percent shooting from three-point range in just his second season. He could very well become this team’s franchise point guard, especially if Lin struggles with injury woes again next year.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson could also try playing them together since Russell has combo guard potential. Either way, he’s an excellent addition to a team that needs young talent to groom at pretty much every position.

Brook Lopez deserves acknowledgement for being a trooper during such a difficult rebuilding time, but he’ll be rewarded with one year of L.A. sunshine before hitting free agency.

He was entirely expendable by the end, and wasting away what’s left of his prime — 20.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.7 BPG, 1.8 3PM this year — on a terrible team. The Nets also needed to squeeze value out of his expiring contract now, before the final season of his deal. That being said, he was a true Brooklyn Net during his time there.

As for the 27th overall pick, that’s 100 percent expendable considering the return. Landing even a rotation player at that juncture in the draft is a coin flip, even in a loaded draft class. Brooklyn also still has its other first-rounder to use at No. 22, via the Washington Wizards from the Bojan Bogdanovic trade.

Maybe Russell will never live up to the hype, or maybe he’s a future star who’s been misjudged early in his career. Either way, the Nets are the perfect team to take a risk like this, even at the cost of having Mozgov’s deal on the books for the next three years.

Grade: A

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