The Los Angeles Lakers and Bull President have reached an agreement on the trade of Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray.
The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly considering trading for Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray.
Austin Reaves may need to be involved in order to acquire either of these players. It would be difficult for LA to give up this player in any trade. In a relatively shallow cache of assets, Max Christie and one of the Lakers’ first-round selections might be up for grabs.
Rui Hachimura and/or D’Angelo Russell might even be moved to match salaries.
Even though it’s exciting to see a household name on this team, would it make more sense to choose a smaller asset?
Jovan Buha of The Athletic revealed that the Lakers have supposedly been interested in wings Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith for a number of years during a recent appearance on Jason Timpf’s Hoops Tonight podcast. They both happen to be Brooklyn Nets players right now. The video below, which discusses both players, starts at 34:23.
Both seem to make a great deal of sense for the Lakers in their current configuration. A skilled wing defender with basketball shooting ability is always in high demand.
O’Neale is a tough, unforgiving wing defender who can essentially compete by stopping small forwards, power forwards, and shooting guards. Thus far this year, he has a scorching 38.8 percent three-point shooting percentage. O’Neale has participated for six postseason teams. He is therefore the kind of player the team can rely on to step up and perform when the games matter most.
Before switching to the Brooklyn Nets, Finney-Smith spent a significant portion of his playing career with the Dallas Mavericks. He has connected on 44.9 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc so far, going 3 for 3.
He can guard several positions on the floor thanks to his 6’7″ height. Finney-Smith has a certain level of cunning to his game and takes a very practical approach.
The Lakers have no idea how much it will cost to sign either of these players. Most likely, a first-round selection must be up for grabs. In any case, it seems that trade market activity is beginning to pick up steam.
