The Lakers president and star guard Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks had an official meeting ahead to the NBA trade deadline.
More than any other team, we’ve seen Murray’s name linked primarily to the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports, Los Angeles is only one of two teams that has made an offer to Atlanta for Murray. The other is a surprise in that of the Utah Jazz.
Utah’s record after their lopsided victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday is now 25–26. The team is currently competing in the western playoff race. Danny Ainge, the head of front office, does seem to want to be involved over the coming days.
Regarding the Lakers, it appears that LeBron James is trying to exert pressure on the front office to close a big deal before this Thursday’s trade deadline. However, general manager Rob Pelinka and company may decide to hold onto their current roster in an effort to preserve NBA Draft capital.
The Lakers are currently ranked ninth in the Western Conference with a 26–25 record. They don’t have many future draft assets, which complicates any possible trade. Austin Reaves is being held out of any trade by Los Angeles as well. The team prefers that Atlanta assume D’Angelo Russell’s contract instead.
The 27-year-old Murray is currently playing for Atlanta under a contract extension worth $114.07 million that he signed back in July.
