Kyrie Irving was available when the Los Angeles Lakers were searching for a new starting point guard two years ago, right before the trade deadline. LeBron James was hoping to rejoin his former teammate from the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Lakers were unable to come to an agreement before Irving was traded to Dallas.
The Lakers were forced to look for other choices as a result, and they eventually acquired D’Angelo Russell—a cheap substitute to Kyrie Irving—who doesn’t play defence and is inconsistent.
Even while D-Lo has shown flashes of exceptional performance, there are other instances in which he is nothing more than a liability, failing to make shots or drawing fouls when defending the opposition. In the end, it became clear that Russell wasn’t the answer in Los Angeles, and he now has the opportunity to become a free agent and choose whether to exercise his $18.6 million player option or not.
Although Russell’s future in Los Angeles is uncertain, the Lakers had an opportunity to steer clear of this predicament by deciding to move their starting point guard early in the campaign.
Just before the 2024 trade deadline, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report claims that the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, and Brooklyn Nets were discussing a three-team trade.
Along with other assorted elements, the trade would have sent D’Angelo Russell to Atlanta and All-Star combo guard Dejounte Murray back to Los Angeles. However, it is said that discussions specifically broke down between Atlanta and Los Angeles.
What else Atlanta was searching for is unknown. It’s likely that they requested more money in the form of valuable Lakers assets or draft picks. However, it’s possible that the Lakers would have had a higher chance of making it past the first round of the NBA Playoffs if Murray had been selected in lieu of Russell. We’ll never be aware of it.
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