LOS ANGELES>> The Los Angeles Lakers have traded guard D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton.

The Lakers also sent forward Maxwell Lewis and three second-round draft picks to Brooklyn on Sunday.

Russell averaged a career-low 12.4 points for the Lakers this season in a diminished role under new coach JJ Redick, who had vowed to unlock the point guard’s formidable offensive game. Instead, Russell was removed from the starting lineup in early November, and he struggled to make a consistent impact as a reserve, with his shooting percentages declining significantly from his previous two seasons back in Los Angeles.

The 6-foot-7 Finney-Smith isn’t a top scorer, but he is a steady 3-and-D wing who fills an obvious need for the Lakers. Los Angeles has had inconsistent wing play and has lacked an effective defender at the key position during the long-term injury absence of Jarred Vanderbilt, who hasn’t played since Feb. 1.

Finney-Smith averaged 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds while hitting a career-best 43.5% of his 3-point attempts this season for the Nets, who acquired him from Dallas in the February 2023 in the trade of Kyrie Irving. Finney-Smith has been limited to five games this month by a sprained ankle and a bruised calf.

Redick and Finney-Smith were teammates with the Mavericks during the 2020-21 season, and Redick has expressed admiration for Finney-Smith’s hard-nosed game.

Milton is joining his sixth NBA team in less than two years. He is averaging 7.4 points and 2.4 assists this season as a Nets reserve.

Russell is being traded by the Lakers to the Nets for the second time in his career. He also made the move in 2017 after spending his first two NBA seasons with Los Angeles, which drafted him in 2015.

Russell has been traded five times in the past 7 1/2 years.

The 10-year pro excelled for the Lakers during their run to the 2023 Western Conference finals after returning to the team in February of that season, although he got benched during that final playoff series against Denver. Russell remained a fairly consistent scorer last year while setting a new franchise record for 3-pointers made in a season, but his career-long problems with offensive inconsistency and defensive ability kept him out of Redick’s plans this year.

With Russell’s departure, Gabe Vincent is the only true point guard left in the Lakers’ rotation, although LeBron James often fills the role of initiating their offense.