One of the first big chips have fallen around the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly traded young point guard D'Angelo Russell and veteran center Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for former All-Star center Brook Lopez and the Nets' first-round pick (27th overall) in this year's draft.
There's a lot of moving parts here. But from a practical fantasy standpoint, Russell to the Nets will seemingly up his value big time. The 2015 No. 2 overall pick averaged 15.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists as a sophomore for the Lakers last season. Though, he did fall into head coach Luke Walton's doghouse during the season. In all, Russell averaged less than 29 minutes per game and attempted just 13.8 shots per game.
Now heading to Brooklyn, Russell should see a dramatic increase in usage. His minutes will likely be in the 35-plus rangs with his shots and pass distribution increasing as well.
This deal also means that the Lakers will likely take former UCLA standout Lonzo Ball with the second pick in Thursday's draft. He's been long bandied about as a possibility there, but that took on a whole new meaning when Philadelphia moved up to No. 1 overall with Boston — suggesting it will select fellow point guard Markelle Fultz with that pick.
Depending on what happens with the Lakers, Lopez' fantasy relevance probably took a turn here. He averaged 20.5 points per game for Brooklyn last season. But that was on a team with very few options. With Brandon Ingram and Ball in Los Angeles, look for a much smaller dose of offense for Lopez.