The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to make their first trade of the NBA offseason. The team has reportedly parted ways with point guard D’Angelo Russell and center Timofey Mozgov in exchange for Brook Lopez, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
Lakers are trading Tim Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell to Nets for Brook Lopez and 27th pick Thursday, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) June 20, 2017
This trade is surprising, to say the least with the team rumored to be in trade talks with the Indiana Pacers to acquire superstar Paul George. Russell has been mentioned in trade rumors constantly over the last few months, but all the speculation seemed to point to him being involved in a deal for George rather than another deal, especially for a player like Lopez.
With this trade reportedly being made by the Lakers, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s another move made by the team to go after George or another player rumored to be on the move like Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls.
This could be the beginning of a busy offseason for the Lakers as they try to right the ship under the new management of Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka. Only time will tell if they’ve made the right moves and can get back into the conversation as a legitimate playoff contender in the Western Conference.