The Los Angeles Lakers’ trade package for Atlanta Hawks star Dejounte Murray has reportedly been revealed.
“The Murray buzz is only increasing — and to noisy levels,” Jovan Buha wrote. “The Lakers and Hawks have discussed potential frameworks of a deal, including a version late last week that centered on [D’Angelo] Russell, [Jalen] Hood-Schifino, the 2029 first-round pick and additional draft compensation, according to multiple team and league sources. Talks have since stalled, but are expected to pick back up closer to the deadline.”
Russell is in his fourth season as a member of the Lakers and is averaging 15.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game in 38 appearances with the storied franchise so far in the 2023-24 regular season. He has been scoring the ball at a high level lately, considering he’s dropped 29 or more points in two of his last three games.
In the Lakers’ most recent game against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 17, he dropped a team-high 29 points while shooting 11-of-20 from the field and 5-of-7 from deep. Russell also contributed four rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes of playing time.
As for Hood-Schifino, he was selected by the Lakers with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft after playing one season of college basketball. The former first-round pick hasn’t had many opportunities to see the court for the team so far this season, considering he has appeared in just nine of the Lakers’ 42 regular-season games to this point.
The rookie’s most recent appearance came in the team’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns back on Jan. 11. He logged just five minutes and ended up with two points while shooting 1-of-3 from the field in a game Los Angeles went on to lose by 18 points.
Murray is enjoying one of the better seasons of his NBA career in his second season with the Hawks. He is averaging 21.0 points per game to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and 38.3 percent from 3-point range, which is the second-highest 3-point percentage of his career.
Only time will tell if the Lakers will be able to acquire Murray before the Feb. 8 trade deadline, but if Los Angeles manages to trade for him without having to give up Austin Reaves, that would be a great move for the team. Reaves has been arguably the Lakers’ third-best player this season, as he is averaging a career-high 15.1 points per game in his third season in Los Angeles.
