Report: Nets were in trade talks for Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell
The Brooklyn Nets have been trying to find their way ever since the end of the Big 3 that voided any chance they had of contending for titles at the moment. Since the trades, Brooklyn has been trying to make moves to improve the team, including trying to reunite with a former Net.
Per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, before the Nets traded Spencer Dinwiddie to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Dennis Schroder, Brooklyn was in talks with the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire D’Angelo Russell. There were plenty of reports heading up to the trade deadline of the Nets trying to get someone to shake things up for a team that was holding onto their hope of making the postseason.
“Multiple sources say that before trading for Dennis Schröder, the Brooklyn Nets were in talks with the Lakers for Russell,” Pincus wrote. Pincus also noted that as part of the three-team trade between the Nets, Lakers, and the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles would be getting guard Dejounte Murray. Murray was someone that was coveted by a number of teams, including the Nets, but the Hawks’ price was reportedly too high for any team to pay.
With Brooklyn looking for a spark from someone to elevate the team into a tier of probable playoff contenders as opposed to possible, some people had suggested that the Nets see what it would take to bring Russell back to Brooklyn. Ultimately, Brooklyn decided to trade for Schroder, a player who had a solid performance and veteran presence for the franchise.
If the Nets were going to acquire Russell this summer, it would have to be in a sign-and-trade given the Lakers’ salary cap situation at the moment. Pincus wrote that “Russell could be traded to Brooklyn for a starting salary of up to $20.6 million (roughly $65-$89 million over three or four years) via the Nets’ Dinwiddie trade exception, with perhaps the Lakers getting young center Day’Ron Sharpe and a $16.6 million trade exception.”
