The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 138-122, on Tuesday, giving them their second defeat in as many nights. They are 24-25 and time is running out for them to make any kind of substantial run ahead of the playoffs.
At this rate, the Lakers may not even make the playoffs or even the play-in tournament. For some reason, they keep playing down to the level of their competition when they face a team that is seemingly inferior on paper.
Tuesday’s game also gave the Lakers an up-close-and-personal look at former All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, their biggest trade target. Murray shot 11-of-19, giving him more made baskets than anyone else in the game, and he scored 24 points to go along with nine assists.
The Lakers and Hawks have talked about a potential Murray deal, and reportedly, a third team will need to get involved to receive D’Angelo Russell from the Lakers.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposed a four-team mock trade involving the Hawks, Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards that would net L.A. Murray, as well as another player who could help it right away.
The proposed trade
Hawks get:
- Spencer Dinwiddie (via Nets)
- Jalen Hood-Schifino (via Lakers)
- Jaxson Hayes (via Lakers)
- 2029 protected first-round pick (via Lakers)
- Cash considerations ($5,905,000, via Lakers)
- $18,214,000 Trade Exception (Dejounte Murray)
Lakers get:
- Dejounte Murray (via Hawks)
- Tyus Jones (via Wizards)
- Wesley Matthews (via Hawks)
- Mouhamed Gueye (via Hawks)
- $10.5 million trade exception (Gabe Vincent)
Nets get:
- D’Angelo Russell (via Lakers)
- Anthony Gill (via Wizards)
- $20.4 million trade exception (Spencer Dinwiddie)
- $2 million trade exception (Harry Giles III)
Wizards get:
- Gabe Vincent (via Lakers)
- Max Christie (via Lakers)
- Harry Giles III (via Nets)
- 2024 second-rounder (L.A. Clippers, via Lakers)
- 2025 protected second-rounder (via Nets)
- 2025 second-rounder (via Lakers)
- 2027 conditional second-rounder (via Lakers)
- Cash considerations ($1,100,000, via Lakers)
- $14 million trade exception (Tyus Jones)
- $2 million trade exception (Anthony Gill)
Note: The Lakers’ first-round pick protections in 2029 are negotiable, but pencil in top-10 protected through 2030; otherwise, it conveys as a 2030 second-round pick.
The 2025 second-rounder from Brooklyn to Washington is from the Miami Heat (top-37 protected).
The 2027 second-rounder from the Lakers to Washington will only convey if the Lakers’ 2027 first-rounder is in the 5-30 range.
How this trade would help the Lakers
By now, Lakers fans should be familiar with how Murray would help the team and possibly be an upgrade over Russell. It should also be mentioned that while Russell is only under contract for one more year and can opt out and leave this summer, Murray’s current contract runs through the 2027-28 season.
But Jones is another player who is reportedly on L.A.’s radar. He did well as a backup for the Memphis Grizzlies last season, and so far this season, he’s averaging 12.4 points and 6.3 assists a game while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, all of which are career-highs.
Jones would give the team another legitimate ball-handler and facilitator who could handle its offense when Murray or LeBron James, or both, are resting. He would also address its lack of 3-point shooting, and unlike Vincent, he appears to have two functioning knees.
Matthews, who is 37 and barely playing for Atlanta, and Gueye, a second-round draft pick in 2023 who has played a total of four minutes this season, likely wouldn’t play much or at all for the Lakers.
At the same time, the trade exception they would receive for Vincent could help them in a separate trade. That separate trade could perhaps land them another 3-point sniper or even a 3-and-D wing.
Some may not like all the trade capital and young players they would give up in this deal. However, Murray is 27 and seven months younger than Russell, while Jones is four months younger than Russell. Both could remain with L.A. long after James departs.
This would be a win-now move to salvage what’s left of James’ Lakers tenure while also maintaining some personnel flexibility for the future. The team would still be in control of most of its draft picks in the coming years, and there’s no guarantee any of the picks it would give up in this trade, or even the first-rounder it gave up in last year’s trade that landed Russell, will yield a good player.
This could be a risky trade for the Lakers, but would the benefits outweigh those risks?
