Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James expressed mixed emotions as he broke his silence over the team’s latest major move.
On Sunday, December 29, the Lakers made their first trade in nearly two years, acquiring versatile 3-and-D wing Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets for D’Angelo Russell, seldom-used Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks (2027, 2030 and 2021).
“First of all, a big shoutout to D-Lo and Max Lewis, brothers of ours, you hate to see anyone leave at any point of the season,” James told reporters following the Lakers’ first practice with their new additions.
Finney-Smith and Milton will come off the bench in their Lakers debut, coach JJ Redick told reporters after the team’s December 30 practice.
“Obviously, they bring experience,” James said of Finney-Smith and Milton. “They bring toughness, and guys that played in big games and that mastered their roles throughout their career and I’m looking forward to them getting into our system and [make] immediate impact, whenever their numbers are called.”
Finney-Smith had played in 35 playoff games, including the Dallas Mavericks‘ Western Conference Finals run in 2022, when he averaged 11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists while hitting 42.6% of his 3-point attempts.
The 6-foot-5 Milton has appeared in 38 playoff games. During his second year in the NBA, he started in four playoff games for the Philadelphia 76ers and averaged 14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He’s become a microwave scorer off the bench since then.
Dorian Finney-Smith Breaks the Ice with LeBron James
Finney-Smith broke the ice with James, one of his toughest defensive assignments in the last nine years, with a shoe request.
“Dorian Finney-Smith says he’s not too friendly on the court, so today, taking to LeBron James, he did the thing he always wanted to do and hadn’t — asked him for some shoes. “He said he got me. …I got the hard part out of the way,” Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a post on X following Finney-Smith’s first practice with the Lakers.
James is happy to come through for his new teammate and backup.
In exchange for the LeBron shoes, Finney-Smith is happy to provide his expertise to help James and the Lakers achieve playoff success.
“Just being versatile guy,” Finney-Smith told reporters. “When they do want me to play small, they got that option. I can pick and pop, keep spread the floor so guys could get in the lane, and pull the bigs out of the paint. That’s what [my past teams] did — put me sitting on the corner, and if [the defenders] help, I’d be ready to shoot. So we just got a bunch of different options.”
LeBron Turns 40
Finney-Smith’s arrival will also allow the Lakers to manage James’ playing load better as he turns 40.
James has already missed three games this season after he initially said he planned to play all 82 regular-season games.
The Lakers can stagger his minutes with Finney-Smith at the power forward spot, with Rui Hachimura also capable of playing spot minutes.
In his 22nd season, James, the all-time leader in scoring and minutes played, is averaging 23.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 9.0 assists in 35 minutes.
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