Shams Charania Reveals New Details About Potential Dejounte Murray to Lakers Trade

Sure sounds like something will get done soon...

The Los Angeles Lakers have been linked with multiple All-Star names as we head into the NBA trade deadline. But the one that has gained the most steam on a potential trade is point guard Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks.

The two sides have spoken about a framework for a potential deal already, but nothing has come to fruition yet. Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell would be the main piece going out from Los Angeles, but that has caused some issues.

NBA Insider Shams Charania revealed that the holdup between the Lakers and Hawks is that Atlanta wants to find a third team to take Russell. 

Shams on Dejounte Murray trade talks to LA a couple weeks ago

“It centered around D’Angelo Russell, a 2029 first round draft pick, and a pick swap I’m told. The hold up was that Atlanta wanted to find a third team for D’Angelo Russell.”
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— joe schmidt (@Joe_Schmidt07) January 22, 2024

If the Lakers can land Murray, it would be a game-changer. His ability to not only score the ball but be a point-of-attack defender would greatly help this team.

He could be placed back into his more natural position of point guard, and help run the show. Murray would take some of the load off LeBron James by running the offense, and he could be a great third option for this squad. 

The biggest knock on Murray would be his inconsistent three-point shot. However, he has shot 38.2% from deep this season, which is a career-high for him.

Russell has been great shooting the ball this season, but Murray would be an upgrade over Russell in almost every other category. Through 42 games with the Hawks, Murray is averaging 21.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and five assists per game. 

Murray is still only 27 years old, so the Lakers could build around him moving forward. They also could always flip him over the summer or next season for more draft capital if the pairing doesn't work out.

This move is almost a no-brainer for this team, and it would give them a better chance to win the title this season. It sounds like the deal could ultimately happen, but for now, we all just need to remain patient.