Yesterday, always reliable Adrian Wojnarowski broke two big stories that sent ripples through the NBA. The first one was D’angelo Russell and Timothy Mozgov for the 27th pick and Brook Lopez. Wow. Then, Dwight Howard was traded along with the 31st pick to the Hornets for trash (Otherwise known as Marco Bellineli, Miles Plumlee and the 41st pick.)

The first, and more important trade was the Lakers-Nets deal. I love this trade for both teams. Makes so much sense. The Lakers had to do two things. Clear cap space, and make room for Lonzo Ball. They accomplished both in this trade. I actually really like D’angelo Russell, so that kinda sucks, but I don’t know if him and Lonzo would play well together. So they had to trade him. And they had to clear cap space, getting rid of Mozgov’s horrendous 4yr/64mil dollar contract given in the former regime. They are clearing cap space for Paul George and Lebron, so good job at that. But this was also a good trade for the nets. Brook Lopez was leaving, so with one year on his contract, so they got D’angelo Russell back for him. He is a guy they can build around, and he will put up big numbers and have an identity for the team. They have too much cap space, so they can eat up Mosgov’s contract with no trouble, so this was a very good trade for the nets.

While I can understand what direction both teams were going in with the other trade, I have no idea what the Hawks are doing. They traded a guy averaging 13 and 13 for NOTHING. This likely means Paul Milsap is gone, and they are going to go through a full tank. They are going to get rid of Schroder, and now their roster is horrible. Who is in the frontcourt? Such a horrible trade. You can make the argument that they are clearing cap space, but for who? Just a dumb trade. For the Hornets, they get a good starter and he and Walker can make a solid duo, possibly making the playoffs. Love it for the Hornets, and a total head scratcher for the Hawks.