With the NBA trade deadline approaching, the Los Angeles Lakers will be one of the teams to watch out for, which is usually the case.
The Lakers have floated around .500 all season and despite LeBron James and Anthony Davis continuing to play at an extremely high level, it seems they will need to make some sort of trade in order to be viewed as true championship contenders.
Despite not having a ton of assets at their disposal, the Lakers have been linked to some of the big names on the trade market such as Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray. Both are Klutch Sports clients so make sense for L.A.
Murray might make more sense from the Lakers’ perspective considering his contract has four years and $114 million remaining on it after this season. That is compared to LaVine, who is more injury-prone and has about three years and $150 million remaining on his contract.
If the Lakers want to acquire Murray then they may have to part with Austin Reaves, however, which they have been hesitant to do, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports:
Murray has generated a substantial market during preliminary conversations around the league. The Hawks have been considered one of the more aggressive front offices this season, sources said, in terms of teams that have been willing to approach rival executives with actual trade concepts as opposed to general interest in specific players. And at this juncture, to varying degrees, the Lakers, Knicks, Sixers, Heat and Pistons are five suitors expected to engage Atlanta about acquiring Murray over the coming days and weeks before Feb 8:
Los Angeles has continued to tell teams it doesn’t want to part with Austin Reaves, sources said. There does seem to be a pathway for a Murray-to-Los Angeles deal if the Lakers would be willing to include Reaves, sources said, although that would require the Hawks to send back more value for Los Angeles’ liking.
It makes sense why the Lakers wouldn’t want to part with Reaves considering how well he fits with James and Davis. Additionally, he just signed one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league this past summer at four years and $54 million, which will give the Lakers a lot of flexibility in the future.
Perhaps the Lakers would be more willing to include Reaves along with either D’Angelo Russell or Rui Hachimura in a deal for Murray if they get more back in return, whether it be Bogdan Bogdanovic or Clint Capela.
With less than a month until the Feb. 8 trade deadline, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office will have a lot of tough decisions to make that could affect the franchise for years to come.
‘No momentum’ on Zach LaVine trade to Lakers
The Lakers likely wouldn’t need to include Reaves in a trade with the Bulls for LaVine, but according to recent reports, there still is no momentum on a deal getting done with L.A. hesitant to take on the guard’s contract.
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