Winners and losers from Los Angeles Lakers/Brooklyn Nets trade
By John Buhler
When the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets put together that deal on Tuesday night, you know that some people and some people lost. Find out who now.
Tuesday night before the 2017 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on Thursday night, the Brooklyn Nets reportedly traded their best player, center Brook Lopez, and the No. 27 overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for point guard D’Angelo Russell and center Timofey Mozgov.
This is the time of the year where trades are expected to be ridiculous. While this doesn’t feel as mind-boggling as that regrettable one the Orlando Magic made with the Oklahoma City Thunder for Serge Ibaka, it’s the end of an era in Brooklyn.
Lopez was going to be forever on the trading block but a Net for life. Now he’s not a Net for life and Russell only spent two seasons Snapchatting and not winning enough games as the Lakers’ former No. 2 overall pick in 2015. Some people definitely won in this trade. Then there are those who definitely lost. Let’s see who actually came out on top and who suffered in this semi-blockbuster deal on Tuesday night.
Winner: Big Baller Brand
This is the best thing that could have happened for former UCLA Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball, his outspoken father/t-shirt model LaVar Ball and the Big Baller Brand in general. Los Angeles has made it a point that no backcourt nuisance is going to get in the way of Ball becoming the next star for the Lakers.
The point guard position is firmly Ball’s should the Lakers take him at No. 2 overall in the upcoming draft. With the Philadelphia 76ers presumably trading up to No. 1 with the Boston Celtics to draft former nine-game-winner Markelle Fultz out of Washington, the kid from Chino Hills is about to be a Laker for life … or at least for the foreseeable future.
Los Angeles is not just a Lakers town, it is now a Big Baller town. All the glitz and glamour of Hollywood will shine brightly on the new wunderkind that the Lakers are going to draft at No. 2. Ball will be in more commercials selling all the $500 shoes that Los Angeles could ever hope to push.
Look for Ball to be the second best player behind Lopez on the 2017-18 Lakers. One day very soon, Ball will pass Team Lopez to be the best Laker of the bunch. In the meantime, he’s got some unorthodox jump shots to take and shoe high-priced shoes to sell to the masses.