The Los Angeles Lakers officially made a decision to acquire another excellent guard from the Atlanta Hawks—who isn’t named Trae Young.

Lakers’ gain in the fresh trade market

It’s possible that the Los Angeles Lakers will trade for an Atlanta Hawks player who isn’t Trae Young.

While making an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on Tuesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic made an intriguing observation regarding the Lakers. Dejounte Murray, a guard for the Hawks, is a player that Charania believes the purple and gold should keep an eye on as a possible trade target.

At 27, Murray—an All-Star in 2022—is just starting to reach his prime. As a secondary option in Atlanta, he contributes greatly on both ends of the court, averaging 20.3 points, 5.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.

Although D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Austin Reaves all agreed to sizeable new contracts this past summer, the Lakers have some salary parity, even though Murray is set to begin a new four-year, $114 million contract extension in 2024. Klutch Sports is representing Murray as well. Several other Lakers, including Anthony Davis and LeBron James, are represented by the same agency.

The Lakers are obviously looking to improve their backcourt, especially in light of the recent setback in their injury situation. Murray is the best defender in the group and could be the least expensive to trade for, even though they have also been linked to Zach LaVine of Chicago and Young, another guard for the Hawks.