Analyst Proposes Three-Team Trade Between Hawks, Lakers, and Nets

Will the Hawks make big moves before the trade deadline?

The NBA trade deadline is nearly one week away and the team that has been mentioned the most in trade rumors has yet to do anything. The Atlanta Hawks have been in trade rumors for the past couple of months but even with their record still in decline, Atlanta has yet to do anything. That does not mean they won't, but there still has not been a deal. 

The team that has been mentioned the most as a possible landing spot for Hawks guard Dejounte Murray has been the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have been looking for upgrades to go alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James and Murray makes sense for a lot of reasons. The holdup has been the Hawks' reported refusal to take back Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell but in a new proposed three-team trade from ESPN NBA analyst Kevin Pelton, that problem gets solved:

Los Angeles Lakers get: Dejounte Murray

Atlanta Hawks get: Spencer Dinwiddie, 2029 first-round pick (via Lakers)

Brooklyn Nets get: D'Angelo Russell

"The Murray-Lakers fit is a natural one. He's a Klutch client who happens to be the best player the Lakers could reasonably add before the trade deadline. The big hang-up is the Lakers' matching salary. Russell's salary is virtually identical, but the Hawks wouldn't want him to exercise an $18.7 million player option that could prevent them from re-signing restricted free agent Saddiq Bey without pushing into the luxury tax.

Enter the Nets, who could bring Russell home to prop up their ailing offense. Russell's lone All-Star appearance came as part of a young Brooklyn team similar in many ways to the current group. With Dinwiddie slumping this season, Russell would be a massive offensive upgrade for the Nets, who can comfortably handle his 2024-25 player option. Dinwiddie is in the final season of his contract, allowing Atlanta to either re-sign him to a smaller deal using Bird rights or allow him to walk in unrestricted free agency."

Dejounte Murray vs the 76ers / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

This could be a trade that works. The Lakers get their star, Brooklyn gets Russell back, and the Hawks take on an expiring salary and get what might be an unprotected pick. That might be the best the Hawks can do in terms of a Murray trade, but there have been other suitors. The Hawks' price for Murray has reportedly been very high:

The Milwaukee Bucks made the decision to fire first-year head coach Adrian Griffin last week and made the quick decision to hire former Celtics, Clippers, and 76ers head coach Doc Rivers to try and get them steered in the right direction.

Yahoo Sports Jake Fischer detailed the downfall of Griffin and the problems Milwaukee is having and what they might do to fix them. Fischer talked about trade candidates for the Bucks and mentioned Murray as a possible target. When talking about the Bucks's potential pursuit of Murray, Fischer detailed the price tag that the Hawks are asking for Murray:

"A deal highlighted by the No. 35 pick probably isn’t going to strike Atlanta’s fancy for Murray, considering the Hawks, at present, are searching for a pair of first-round picks plus a starting-level player for their All-Star combo guard, league sources told Yahoo Sports."

It will be interesting to see the actual return for Murray if he is indeed traded and it still seems like that is the direction things are trending. Keep an eye on this one moving forward. 

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