Report: LeBron James wanted Lakers to acquire Dejounte Murray or Zach LaVine

LeBron James allegedly would have liked to see the Los Angeles Lakers trade for either Dejounte Murray or Zach LaVine prior to the trade deadline, which was on Feb. 8.

“James was also in support of the Lakers trading for Dejounte Murray or Zach LaVine — two Klutch Sports clients — in the weeks and months leading into the 2024 trade deadline, according to those sources,” Sam Amick, Anthony Slater and Jovan Buha wrote.

The Lakers were connected to both players in trade rumors leading up to the trade deadline. But Los Angeles was reportedly hesitant of the idea of taking on LaVine’s expensive contract.

LaVine and Murray are both on teams that have had mediocre 2023-24 regular seasons so far. The Chicago Bulls own the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference at 26-28, while the Atlanta Hawks are right behind them in the standings as the No. 10 seed.

The Lakers have also struggled to find consistency as a team this season, evidenced by their 29-26 record, which has the team as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference.

Since after Feb. 8, Los Angeles has beat the New Orleans Pelicans at home by 17 points on Feb. 9 before beating the Detroit Pistons at home by 14 on Tuesday.

The Lakers’ victory over the Pelicans stands out as the team’s most impressive win during their short winning streak, seeing as New Orleans is ahead of Los Angeles in the Western Conference standings with an impressive 32-22 record on the season.

Perhaps Los Angeles made the right decision by not shaking up its roster with a major trade. The Lakers have been playing winning basketball lately and are within striking distance of a top-five seed in the Western Conference, as they are three-and-a-half games back of the Phoenix Suns — who own a 6-4 record over their last 10 games — for the No. 5 seed.

The Lakers’ next two games on their regular-season schedule are on the road. They will play the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night before taking on the Golden State Warriors next Thursday. It will be interesting to see if the Lakers can pull out a road win over a Jazz team that’s been difficult to beat at home.