One of the first major moves by the Los Angeles Lakers under president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka was trading D’Angelo Russell and the awful contract of Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for one year of Brook Lopez and a first-round draft pick that eventually became Kyle Kuzma.
The move was praised at the time, due to the Lakers ridding themselves of the Mozgov deal and opening up a second max slot for free agency. However, Russell, who Johnson felt was, ‘not a leader,’ has since blossomed into an All-Star with the Nets.