The Los Angeles Lakers have been doing one thing this past season. They want to find an All-Star helper for James and Anthony Davis. The last 2 seasons have proven that D'Angelo Russell is not the championship defender they want. Russell, while he was able to play well at times, was not consistent enough. To put it bluntly, the stars are not good enough to be the third giant.
The Lakers had been discussing a trade for Russell before the trade deadline last season, but it had been inconclusive. They also have their sights set on Dejounte Murray of the Eagles.
However, during that time, Murray contributed to several key games in succession, helping the team to a wave of winning streaks in Trae Young's absence. The NBA is a business league after all, and the Hawks management has also wavered in negotiations, should Murray be part of the team's plans in the future? They weren't sure, and in the midst of the ambiguity, they raised the offer for Murray to the Lakers.
At that time, the Hawks raised Rivers Jr.'s priority in the trade, but the Lakers saw him as not for sale, so the two sides collapsed. In addition, before the trade deadline, Russell also played well. There are many experts who believe that it is better to take a look, after all, Russell currently knows more about the Lakers system. But after the game, Russell's performance in the playoffs was not outstanding, and even said that several games in this round of the Nuggets series were super ghost performances.
Russell is not a good fit for the Lakers, and if he wants to win the championship, he will have to find another helper.
That's the consensus of Lakers management, even if Russell accepts the player option. After all, his poor playoff performance, walking around the free agent market, found that none of them were willing to make an offer of more than 20 million. And Quickley, who is next door, has received a maximum salary of $175 million for five years. In desperation, Russell had no choice but to stay in the team. After all, backed by the mountain of Los Angeles, at least the exposure is full, and secondly, the Lakers have the competitiveness to win the championship, and it depends on Pelinka's follow-up operation.
On the Hawks' side, after a whole season of consideration. Contrary to his original decision, he sold Dejounte Murray for a bargain. According to TA reporter Shams Charania, Hawks guard Dejounte Murray was traded to the Pelicans.
The details of the deal go like this, the Hawks get: Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, a 2025 first-round pick (from the Lakers) and a 2027 first-round pick, and the Pelicans get: Dejounte Murray.
Then Murray came, largely announcing that the Brandon Ingram trade was also on the fast heel. The author believes that it is possible to go to the Cavaliers in exchange for the addition of Jarrett Allen. The Pelicans believe Murray is a player who can provide an offensive threat in crunch time, and they will continue to retain a core roster of Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum.
For a player who often appears in trade messages, Murray played well with the Hawks last season. He played in 78 regular season games for the Hawks, averaging 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 35.7 minutes per game, including a career-high scoring average per game.
Nance averaged 5.7 points, 5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, and Daniels averaged 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. To be reasonable, it's better to give the Lakers a convenience, at least Russell is more than these two buddies, and they are both 2 first-rounders.