OFFICIAL: Los Angeles Lakers Complete Blockbuster 3-Team Trade
On Thursday afternoon, the NBA trading deadline ended at 3 P.M. Eastern Time, so teams around the league have made many moves over the last few days.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to a blockbuster three-team trade (on Wednesday).
Now, the deal is complete and the Lakers officially sent out a press release.
Via Lakers PR: "The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired via trade guard D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves and guard Malik Beasley and forward Jarred Vanderbilt from the Utah Jazz, it was announced today by Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka. In the trade, the Lakers sent guard Russell Westbrook, forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, center Damian Jones and a protected first-round pick to Utah and a future second-round pick to Minnesota."
The Lakers were able to upgrade their roster impressively.
Russell will now be the team's starting point guard, and he is currently averaging 17.9 points and 6.2 assists per contest (while shooting 39.1% from the three-point range).
The 2019 NBA All-Star was originally the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Lakers (and spent the first two seasons of his career with the franchise).
In addition, Beasley and Vanderbilt are very talented role players that will add depth to the roster.
Vanderbilt is averaging 8.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest, while Beasley has shot over 37% from the three-point range in four different seasons.
The Lakers are 25-30 in 55 games, with them as the 13th seed in the Western Conference.
However, they are only 2.0 games out of the tenth seed (the final play-in tournament spot).
In the deal, the Lakers also moved on from 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook, who had put up big numbers (but didn't appear to be a good fit on the roster).
