Lakers One of Two Teams Who’ve Made ‘Actual’ Trade Offers for Dejounte Murray, per Insider

The Atlanta Hawks guard is a hot name in the rumor mill, but the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves among just two franchises pursuing a deal to date.

The Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors have swirled for months, but the buzz has picked up steam with Thursday’s trade deadline on the horizon. One name recently linked to Los Angeles is Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray, but things may have taken a bit of a turn.

In a recent conversation between Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports and longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein on The Stein Line on KEGL-FM in Dallas-Fort Worth, the topic of a potential Murray trade was dissected. Specifically, Fischer noted that the Lakers are reportedly one of just two teams to have made “actual offers” for the Atlanta guard, according to his sources.

“The only teams I’ve really heard actual offers about have been from the Lakers and Utah,” Fischer said of Murray.

• NBA Trade Deadline Tracker: Stay on top of latest moves

Fischer mentioned that the Lakers don’t have an ideal package that fits the Hawks’ asking price for Murray, and he also pointed to two additional first-round picks the team can use at the draft.

“And the Lakers just don’t have a clear obvious package that’s going to give the Hawks the picks they want, the player they want—a player who doesn’t have what’s considered to be like bad long-term salary,” Fischer continued. “And the Lakers get two more extra first-round picks to play with once the calendar flips over to next season come draft time.”

Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray has been linked in trade rumors to the Los Angeles Lakers for much of the 2023-24 NBA season / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

While the lack of legitimate offers for Murray is somewhat surprising, things often pick up in the final day or two before the trade deadline. From a competition standpoint, it could benefit the Lakers if the Hawks hold onto Murray until the offseason, when Los Angeles can utilize the two additional draft picks.

On that point, Fischer even cited that he believes it’s even money at this point whether Murray gets traded at all.

“I’m starting to think it’s closer to 50/50 than we thought all along. The Hawks have always said to me whenever I’ve checked on it, ‘You know we don’t have to trade him.’ Which is what they did with John Collins for three years,” Fischer told Stein. “So if we’re taking them at face value and their past history, and they don’t get their price point for him, I do think it’s possible he sticks around [in Atlanta].”

The Lakers, who are 26–25 after back to back impressive road wins over the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, have flirted with the .500 mark all season. They are one of the NBA’s most intriguing teams to watch as Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline approaches.