The Los Angeles Lakers enter this offseason with a need to improve the roster after their first-round exit last season. Even under a rookie head coach like JJ Redick, the team will be scrutinized heavily if they don’t compete for a championship with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They’ll be searching hard for upgrades on the market, with Dejounte Murray being a name the team made a run at in the winter as well.
The Atlanta Hawks are expected to move on from either Trae Young or Dejounte Murray after two seasons with a first-round ceiling for the franchise. While the Lakers have had eyes on Young as well, Murray would be a much better fit on the team as a two-way guard playing off LeBron James and Anthony Davis, instead of a scorer like Young. As a result, the franchises could come to an interesting agreement for a trade.
This deal finally brings Dejounte to Los Angeles but at the price of two first-round picks, one solid rotational player, and someone who was drafted in the first round one season ago. The Hawks have additional maneuverability to focus a rebuild around Young after a trade like this.
The Hawks made a very expensive gamble with Dejounte when they acquired him in the summer of 2022, giving up three first-round picks to the Spurs. The two-guard combo with him and Trae Young hasn’t worked, which requires them to send out one of these players to recoup the assets they lost. While Young might be the better player through production and previous experience as a No. 1 option, his style of play won’t be attractive enough for the Hawks to find a price that they’d be comfortable trading him with.
Moving Murray and getting this haul of assets would be a better avenue to building a contender. Rui Hachimura averaged 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds last season, proving he’s a winning player over the last two seasons. He has been a much-improved defender and was crucial in the Lakers’ late-season run to solidify the No. 7 seed in the West
