On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers continued the NBA trades ahead of the upcoming 2017 NBA draft. The team dealt guard D'Angelo Russell and big man Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets. In exchange, the Nets sent over Brook Lopez and their first-round draft pick. What could be next for the L.A. Lakers and Brooklyn Nets with these latest moves? Will Los Angeles pick up a top All-Star soon too?
Lakers trade details
As ESPN reported in breaking news on Tuesday evening, D'Angelo Russell of the Lakers has officially been traded. In addition, Los Angeles packaged center Timofey Mozgov in the deal.
The Brooklyn Nets will send big man Brook Lopez and their No. 27 pick for the 2017 Nba Draft.
D'Angelo Russell was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He formed a trio of young stars the Lakers were building upon which also included Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle. Russell averaged 15.6 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game in about 27.7 minutes a game last season.
Plenty of Lakers fans rolled their eyes when the team took on Mozgov and offered him an abnormally large salary for a player with his particular stats. Mozgov averaged 7.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and under an assist per game last season.
Since Russell had been considered part of a trio of young stars the team was building around, their parting ways with the former No.
2 pick leads fans to wonder if the Lakers are mainly clearing room for their top draft pick.
The Lakers could also be making way for Paul George, who told his Indiana Pacers team he plans to leave as a free agent after the upcoming NBA season. The Pacers may be looking to make some sort of trade or Los Angeles is making sure they'll have enough cap space available to pay an All-Star of George's caliber.
NBA Draft picks
The Los Angeles Lakers own the No. 2 pick in Thursday's 2017 NBA Draft. With that pick, most analysts are predicting they will draft UCLA Bruins phenom Lonzo Ball. While he has some question marks, the young guard is considered by many analysts to have a lot of upside and offers the Los Angeles franchise a future star with moneymaking potential.
Now the Lakers also have the No. 27 pick in Thursday's NBA draft. It's unknown exactly what players might be available at that spot. The Draft Express website speculates that the Lakers could take Colorado guard Derrick White with the No. 27 pick. They have the No. 28 pick as well and could opt for shooting guard/small forward Terrance Ferguson of Adelaide there.