It appears that the Los Angeles Lakers will need to include wingman Rui Hachimura and do a lot of cap wrangling if they manage to acquire star guard Dejounte Murray prior to the NBA trade deadline.
The Lakers are contending for one of the final playoff spots and have an unimpressive record at this point in the season for the second consecutive year. Although their poor start to the previous season was overlooked because they had a new head coach, fear is beginning to spread in Laker Land this time around.
But, because they witnessed it happen the previous year, LA supporters are optimistic that they can swiftly turn things around very soon. General manager Rob Pelinka made several small but effective moves prior to the NBA trade deadline last season. In the latter stages of the season, his revamped team gained momentum and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
Lakers supporters hope that additional trades can be made in the upcoming weeks to produce comparable outcomes, given their recent history. Making moves now, though, is a little more challenging because a number of the team’s players from the previous campaign signed new long-term contracts this past summer. Therefore, LA does not have the same level of pay flexibility as they did in this case.
