NEWS IN – Negotiation in progress as LA Lakers considering trade for East All-star [Full Details]
After it seemed like your Los Angeles Lakers won a great 2023 offseason, things look very different in late December.
Through 31 games, the Purple and Gold sit at a mediocre 16-15 and are amid a tough stretch. It’s clear the Lakers are not a finished product, and it’s evident a trade is on the horizon for LA. It seems like the Lakers are always in the midst of some trade, and it’s no different here, at least according to FanDuel’s Shams Charania.
Charania spoke on the Lakers’ potential trade targets and listed former All-Star Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray.
The Lakers are looking to go all in this season, and Murray could fit that bill. Murray is only 27 years old and is an excellent defender, winning the steals title in 2021-2022 and was named All-Defense in 2017-2018.
He’s spent the last two seasons with the Hawks, and with the team not being the same since their Eastern Conference run in 2021, they may look to move arguably their second-best player.
Through 29 games, Murray has averaged 20.3 points per game on 46% shooting from the field and 38.2% from three, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. Dejounte is having himself another solid season, but could it work with the Lakers?
Murray’s currently in the final season of an incredibly reasonable four-year, $64 million deal he signed while still with the San Antonio Spurs. He’s earning a likely $18.2 million with incentives, meaning he’d likely require a D’Angelo Russell ($17.3 million) or Rui Hachimura ($15.7 million) contract in return.
I don’t see why not. The Lakers don’t have a guard who could defend at a high level, and although that isn’t a position of need, why not go after one at the right price? Murray and Lakers superstar LeBron James are close friends, and the fit could work.
It’s clear the team we’re seeing now is not the one that’ll be around in mid-February, and we’ll see if Murray will don the purple and gold by then.
