On Tuesday afternoon the Los Angeles Lakers sent a pair of players, Timofey Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell, to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the 27th overall pick for Thursday evening's NBA Draft. The news was first reported by head NBA reporting honcho Adrian Wojnarowski:
The 21-year-old Russell and the bad contact of Mozgov will swap coasts to make room for Lonzo Ball? Paul George? LeBron James? All of the above? Take your best guess.
Last season Russell, who was chosen with the second overall pick just two years ago, averaged 15.6 points and 4.8 assists per game. With the Lakers selecting at No. 2 again they were able to pair the talented youngster with Mozgov, who has three years and $48 million left on his contract, and send them both to Brooklyn.
In return the Lakers get Lopez, who has just one year left on his current deal. Last year for a wretched Nets team, the 29-year-old center averaged 20.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The deal also gives Los Angeles the 2nd, 27th and 28th choices in Thursday's draft. Whether they pair those latter two (plus a player?) for another lotto pick remains to be seen.
