Ultimately, the Lakers made a trade for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets.
Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas and guard Malcolm Brogdon are two of the top trade targets by multiple NBA teams. Many league insiders don’t think they will wear Wizards jerseys past the Feb. 6, 2025 deadline. And they were linked to a possible trade that ultimately didn’t materialize.
Last weekend, Sam Stein of the Stein Line reported that the Los Angeles Lakers were interested in acquiring both Valanciunas and Brogdon. However, the Lakers ended up acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets instead. Finney-Smith has also been linked to trade rumors in his own right.
Here’s a snippet from Stein’s piece on how this came about.
Finney-Smith obviously can’t provide the bulk, screening and frontcourt know-how that Valančiūnas offers, but he is a highly regarded multi-positional defender shooting a career-high 43.5% from 3-point range this season.
“I like the combo of Finney-Smith and Milton better for the Lakers than the two Washington guys,” said one longtime NBA personnel evaluator.
It’s a much more affordable combination, too. Finney-Smith and Milton makeless than $18 million combined this season — compared to nearly $33 million for the Washington duo — and have helped the Lakers move more than $3 million away from the second luxury tax apron they were pressed up against so closely.
We now know that there is one less team that will be picking up Valanciunas and Brogdon. But there will still be a fair number of suitors. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.