Double deal: NBA Executive confirms Lakers’ trade for Point guard and $90m Sharpshooter

The Los Angeles Lakers could broaden a potential Dejounte Murray trade at a lower price, as the Atlanta Hawks try to get rid of their other large salaries.

According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, a former front-office executive for the Memphis Grizzlies, the Hawks may use Murray as bait to trade Clint Capela or De’Andre Hunter.

“League sources say the Hawks have had continued chatter on potential Murray deals,” Hollinger wrote on January 14. “Some will tell you they’re coming near to the finish line, while others will suggest the Hawks are still fishing for trade value for him and other key players (such as Hunter and Capela).

Overly optimistic extensions for Capela (one more year at $22.2 million) and Hunter (three years after this one for a total of $70 million) have also hampered the Hawks’ team-building efforts. Part of the attractiveness of dealing Murray just months after agreeing to a four-year, $114 million extension is that his salary might be used as leverage to force Capela or Hunter into a trade.

On the other hand, they’re unlikely to obtain anything close to what they paid for him.”

According to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, the Hawks sought Immanuel Quickley and a first-round choice in their prior trade talks with the Knicks.

That was extremely close to what they handed up: three first-round picks plus a pick swap, with the Toronto Raptors valuing Quickley at two first-round picks.

Absorbing Hunter’s salary may allow the Lakers to negotiate a package without giving up Austin Reaves.

 

Lakers’ Alternative Trade Option

If the Hawks insist on a Reaves-Murray trade without receiving additional value, NBA front office insider Bobby Marks proposed an other trade possibility for Rob Pelinka.

“If I were the Lakers, I’d look into Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan, but you might have to give up Austin Reaves in that type of trade. DeRozan might be a free agent, and Caruso has one of the best contracts.”

DeRozan would provide the Lakers with a third scoring option, while Caruso’s return might help the team’s perimeter defense.

However, the Bulls have not specified whether Caruso is available.

NBA Exec Wonders if Lakers Can Expand Dejounte Murray Trade

 

If the Hawks insist on including Reaves in the prospective Murray trade, an NBA executive pitched ESPN’s Zach Lowe an expanded trade proposal.

“I had a [NBA] executive from another team spitball with me yesterday (January 11); might the Lakers, if Reaves is involved, structure a larger trade that includes Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovich, the sharpshooter they so desperately need? “Now that has to include Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, more draft compensation, and Jalen Hood-Schifino,” Lowe stated on “NBA Today” on January 12.

The Lakers have only one first-round selection (2029) and three pick swaps (2026, 2028, and 2030) to offer in any in-season deal.

Reaves, the player Hawks covet from the Lakers roster, holds the key to a potential Murray trade.