A little more than a week after the 2017 Finals came to a close, the NBA has lost its collective mind.
Trade rumors are flying hot and heavy in the wake of the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics flipping the third and first overall picks, and the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly followed suit on Tuesday by trading Timofey Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the 27th overall pick in the 2017 Draft.
Let's be very clear — this is not a good trade for the Lakers. They tanked Russell's trade value by leaking reports about his work ethic, traded him for practically nothing, and went from embracing the hard work of a true rebuild to trying to circumvent the process through free agency.