Erik Slater: D’Angelo Russell on adjusting to his role with the Nets after his trade from the Lakers: "I'll never take being able to play free basketball like this for granted again."

After the Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Nets last month in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, he dropped 22 points off the bench in his season debut with Brooklyn in a 130-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 1.

Russell has reached the playoffs on four different occasions, and he's still seeking his first NBA title. His longest postseason run came in 2023, when the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated in the Conference Finals.

As the calendar turned toward 2025, the Los Angeles Lakers made a bold roster move, trading D'Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for versatile forward Dorian Finney-Smith and sharpshooter Gabe Vincent.

After missing most of last season and the beginning of this season, Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has finally been medically cleared to play. In

Here are the Brooklyn Nets player grades following Tuesday's 99-95 loss to the New York Knicks in Mikal Bridges' return to Brooklyn.

The Los Angeles Lakers have only made one trade this year so far. They decided to ship out D'Angelo Russell in return for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Milton has already fallen out of the rotation in Los Angeles.

The Brooklyn Nets aren’t interested in winning too many games — nor should they be — but their starting point guard might throw a wrench into those plans.