Despite bringing back their core that made it to the Western Conference Finals this season, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to gain any sort of momentum this season, hovering around .500 for a majority of the year.
While the hope was that continuity would be able to vault the Lakers into championship contenders, that has not been the case, making it clear that some sort of trade needed to be made ahead of the Feb. 8 deadline.
The player the Lakers have been linked to most leading up to the deadline is Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray. Despite trading for and extending Murray, the Hawks have struggled and reportedly felt that the fit with Trae Young was not great.
The Lakers were unsurprisingly the team that expressed the most interest in Murray over the last few weeks. They were said to be looking to upgrade their backcourt with a guard that has speed and athleticism, with Murray fitting that criteria. He is also a Klutch Sports client that has a close relationship with LeBron James.
While the fit was good, finding a deal that worked for all parties was trickier. The Hawks were reportedly not interested in acquiring D’Angelo Russell, so a third team appeared to need to get involved given the Lakers’ lack of draft assets to entice Atlanta.
It appears that they were never able to get it done as Murray is staying put in Atlanta past the deadline, as is another potential Lakers target in Bruce Brown of the Toronto Raptors, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The Atlanta Hawks are keeping guard Dejounte Murray, sources tell ESPN. No trade for him.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2024
The Toronto Raptors are keeping Bruce Brown Jr., sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2024
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers did not make any deals before the deadline:
The trade deadline came and went and the Lakers stood pat without a deal, sources told ESPN.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 8, 2024
While bringing in a 27-year-old former All-Star in Murray would have been good for the organization in both the short and long term, it takes two to tango and it seems the Hawks were never really interested in getting a deal done despite all of the speculation and rumors. The same could be said for Brown, who the Lakers have coveted for a while now.
With Russell playing at an extremely high level in recent weeks, it reportedly changed the Lakers’ calculus going into the deadline. There clearly wasn’t an upgrade out there that they felt was worthwhile enough to seriously explore, so now they will finish the season with what they have with perhaps one or two additions on the buyout market.
Lakers hoping to chase third star over summer
With the Lakers choosing to hold onto their 2029 first-round pick past the deadline, they will now have three first-rounders at their disposal to trade this offseason. Reports indicate that they will use those to chase another star, with Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers being one potential option.
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