What should Lakers fans expect from Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton?

After the Lakers pulled off a surprise trade for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, we asked someone who covered them with the Nets about what they’ll bring to Los Angeles.

After two seasons with no trades, the Lakers finally got a deal done, sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Nets in return for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.

The move adds 3-and-D archetypes to Los Angeles and provides some much-needed depth to the roster, but what can fans expect from these two?

To help us answer that question, we reached out to Lucas Kaplan, writer for Nets Daily, who covered DFS and Milton during their time in Brooklyn to see what kind of player the Lakers are receiving.

Below is our Q and A.

What should Lakers fans expect to see from DFS and Milton? What are their strengths and weaknesses at this point in their careers?

Finney-Smith will give the Lakers the same thing every night and once-teammate JJ Redick will likely reward him with hefty minutes due to that consistency. The 3-point shooting — off stand-stills and occasionally pick-and-pops, either in the corners or above the break — will come and go, but please bear with him when the career-best 43.5% inevitably drops off.

DFS will play his ass off every night, his teammates will love him and he will make a bunch of small, winning plays that ultimately add up to positive impact. It is no mistake that the Brooklyn Nets were fourteen points per 100 possessions better with Doe on vs. Doe off this season. A typical night will look something like this…

Doe is capable of guarding run-of-the-mill backup centers –even playing some slightly above-average drop defense as a Net – if the Lakers want to play some 5-out bench units against certain teams, but he’s really the epitome of a 3-and-D wing. He’s probably a couple of years past guarding way out on the perimeter, but he played Jaren Jackson Jr. really well earlier this season. He’d do as well as anyone guarding Luka, it’s all about length plus strength plus technique for him.

If he takes more than two dribbles, it’s probably not a good offensive possession, but he will keep the ball moving and stay away from turnovers. Remember this when he throws a lob to Anthony Davis off a drive and you say, “I didn’t know he could do that.”

In sum: A 3-and-D guy who doesn’t make mistakes but will need to make threes to have offensive value in a playoff setting. Defenses do respect him, though. Especially this season.

Milton needs the ball in his hands, which has limited his opportunities since the bubble, but he can score 15 points off the bench on any night. He will take a lot of pull-up twos, so JJ might get a little antsy there, but can also spot-up from three. He had a dozen assists in his last game as a Net, too, playing a real point guard sort of role. Now that I think about it, he’s a lesser version of Austin Reaves. I’d certainly trust him more than Gabe Vincent to do stuff on offense.

In all likelihood, you won’t notice Milton for a week or two, but it’ll be worth it when he scores 14 points in the third quarter on the second night of a back-to-back to win the Lakers a game.

What’s the best-case scenario for both players this season? What’s the worst-case scenario?

Best case for DFS is that he stays above 40% from three all season, doesn’t get hurt — he’s missed 11 games but I think he would’ve played like seven of those had he been on a contender — and is shielded a bit by AD’s size on the interior. The Nets haven’t been great rebounding with him on the court, but LAL is a much different environment. Perhaps he gets a boost guarding some quicker, smaller perimeter players — he was the only prayer Brooklyn had on Donovan Mitchell when they went to Cleveland earlier this season. Maybe that continues.

Worst case is he provides little to no rebounding boost, is genuinely too old to offer resistance on the perimeter in a playoff series and the shot stops going in. Even then, though, he’ll still be trustworthy and even valuable if the opponent has a wing initiator.

There’s not really a “worst case” for Milton outside of ending up past the rotation limits, but the best case is that he keeps playing like he was in Brooklyn. He’s only 28 years old, those legs are fresh, he’s having his best assist-to-turnover year ever and getting to his spots confidently. He could totally score 20 a couple of times a month.

Take good care of Finney-Smith. It’s tough to find an NBA player with a higher approval rating across the league. Coaches, teammates, media, fans. The guy won nothing (not his fault) in Brooklyn, was on zero memorable teams, averaged 8.5 PPG, and fans are very sad to see him go. Very charming in front of a camera. Shake is a nice guy too, a little more reserved but quite pleasant.

A big thanks to Kaplan for his insight. For more of his Nets thoughts, you can follow him on Twitter at @LucasKaplan_.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.