The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the better part of the buildup to the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline searching for guard help, and it appears they've settled on a primary target. Dejounte Murray has been the topic of frequent Lakers rumors, and it makes sense on several levels. The Lakers are big-game hunters, and Murray is a former All-Star. They've struggled to defend opposing guards, and Murray is a former All-Defense choice. He is represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, who also represents LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The trouble thus far is that the Lakers and Hawks have been unable to settle on compensation. For weeks, rumors suggested that the Hawks needed promising Lakers guard Austin Reaves to make a deal. However, The Athletic's Shams Charania suggested otherwise on FanDuel TV's Run It Back show. According to Charania, the holdup at the time was contractual. The Lakers and Hawks reportedly discussed a deal built around a 2029 first-round pick and a first-round pick swap, but D'Angelo Russell would have been the primary matching salary. Russell has a player option for next season, and the Hawks wanted to find a third team to take on his deal rather than absorbing it themselves.
Russell struggled early in the season and saw his role fluctuate, but lately he is playing some of his best basketball. In his last five games, Russell is averaging 27.2 points on nearly 56% shooting and 54% from 3-point range. He is a former All-Star with weaknesses on defense and in big games that might scare away contenders, but his contract is hardly toxic. If the only holdup here is the lack of a third team, that seems like a reasonable gap to bridge between now and Feb. 8. There are plenty of rebuilding teams out there with expiring contracts to offer in exchange for a few second-round picks.
While Murray has a number of suitors and the Lakers have a number of targets, the buzz surrounding the two sides continues to get louder as the deadline approaches. Marc Stein noted in his Monday newsletter that "it is believed that the Los Angeles Lakers, to date, have engaged in the most substantive trade discussions with Atlanta on Murray," and while there were some early rumors in possible Lakers interest in Zach LaVine, Murray is the high-end guard they have been most frequently connected to of late.
The Lakers used a deadline blockbuster to launch themselves into contention a year ago. For the price they'd be paying for Murray, they'd expect similar results this time around. For now they still have the Russell obstacle to clear, but if the two sides are close when it comes to draft compensation, it seems as though there is a viable framework here for a deal.
