The Lakers are keeping an eye on Dejounte Murray – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today

The Lakers are keeping an eye on Dejounte Murray – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today

They’ve lost 11 of their last 16 games and seven were by double digits the Lakers have dropped from sixth in the west to 10th and are now four and a half games back of sixth place and if they are not already there Kendrick Perkins how can the Lakers avoid hitting rock

Bottom you know what make a move make a move that’s how they could avoid it they they have to I mean when you look at all the top teams around the Western Conference they have a third star a third playmaker and I understand we want

Austin Reeds to be that guy but he’s not providing what you need him to provide and when LeBron James don’t have it going at the point for a position who else can you put in place to make that team go they don’t have that I think the Lakers have reached that spot Malika

Because they’re now 39 games into the season they’re under 500 they’ve seen what this team can do and importantly I know that they’ve had some injuries to role players ad and LeBron have generally been healthy the whole way this is the those guys basically have full power starting on Monday their full

Roster is tradable I think you will see the Lakers move into a new phase and look to find a deal that doesn’t mean they’re going to get one but I think they will attempt to look into trying to find a deal after Monday but is there a

Player that they need so I know everyone’s been talking about Zack LaVine I think his salary is a challenge I also think that the Lakers want a guy who can play at both ends of the court so I would think that I don’t think Zack

LaVine is going to be the answer I would see I think the Lakers are keeping an eye on Deonte Murray with the Atlanta Hawks that’s not going to be a simple trade to pull off there’s going to it’s going to be expensive Jon Murray however would give them that guard who plays at

Both ends and would take some of the ball he’s not a pure point guard but he could take some of the ball handling pressure uh that you know off off LeBron James Atlanta’s ready to trade deante Murray they have given uh some time to the Trey young dejon Murray back court I

Think they’re ready to move on from it de jante Murray is the player that they’re engaged uh around the league with and they have talked to the Lakers they’ve exchanged some ideas on a potential trade uh but they’re engaged with a lot of teams they gave up a lot

For dejonte Murray they gave up two of their own first round picks a pick Swap and a in a third first round pick that they had control of they want to get some value back for him so you look at that Lakers roster uh and you see what a

Value do they have that can compete in the marketplace I think there’s lots of teams interested in him the question is how much are they willing to give up for Murray when you’re this far out from the trade deadline usually you’re not getting people’s best yet and so I think

The Lakers are going to be in this but there are a number of teams interested but I do think the chances of him moving before the deadline are very very high and let me be very very clear is no player out there whether it’s Zack LaVine Deon Murray uh I don’t know the

Status of deard De Roan or Pascal cakam that’s going to help Elevate the Lakers to a title Contender that’s just going to help them compete in the playoffs right so it’s not going to be like it’s a player out there that they can go grab

And all of a sudden they go they they’re going to become one of the favorites no I’m not saying that but they’re in the worst position right now and they need to make something happen because the energy is bad and see what end up happening is is when you get when it’s

Getting close to the trade deadline right and guys hear their name being thrown out there it’s hard to buy in it’s hard to give an organiz an organization everything that you have I went through that when I was with the Oklahoma City Thunder right I had a

Heads up that hey perk you might be getting traded we had two games before that and it was hard for me to go out there and put my all into it but you also know the reality in the NBA we can probably count on two hands

The number of guys who are never really in trade talks everybody else in the league is and that’s the reality well and and and you were setting the market W for for and the reality for someone like Deonte Murray I guess my question Brian is can the lake afford to be out

Bid so as W said the they got multiple first round picks they gave up multiple first- round picks to acquire dejonte Murray so you would have to think that any negotiation with the Lakers would include the one first round pick that they have to trade um but I think the

Reason the Lakers I think would be willing to do something like that is that they’ve decided they’ve been playing LeBron at point guard these last handful of games and his production level has gone down it’s very taxing as you know perk to get out for LeBron to

Be out there and play a point guard and his numbers have slipped a little bit and so you know they don’t have D’Angelo Russell in the starting lineup they don’t have Austin re in the starting lineup they’ve got LeBron in the starting lineup and you look and see

Right there you know the way LeBron’s numbers are affected so to have another guard I think is is a priority the the Hawks did sign uh Murray to a contract extension before the season but the contract extension was viewed around the league as a as a reasonable extension it

Would not be like Zack LaVine where that would be like a contract that would be a little bit of a cumbersome so I think that there’s a number reasons why Deon Murray fits but as W says a lot of people might feel that way yeah and I

Think you talked about the draft pick it would almost assuredly have to be in uh a deal for dejonte Murray I think the question for the Lakers if they really want an upgrade their roster are they willing to put um are they willing to

Put Reeves in a deal and I think on his contract I think there’s a sense of you they’d like to do everything they can to hold on to him because you create another hole if you do trade him and so whether it’s whether would go to Atlanta

Or whether it might be a bigger deal there’s always three and four team discussions going on I think that’s going to be the Moment of Truth for Rob hink and the Lakers at the trade deadline I think without putting uh Reeves in a deal I think it’s harder to

Get back the kind of differen maker perks talking about let’s bring Zack low into this discussion Zach as you’re listening to all this is there a move that you like the most for the Lakers I think Deon Murray would be a great fit but I think WS just nailed it

If I’m the Atlanta Hawks I’m asking the Lakers Lakers why am I taking any deal you can offer me that doesn’t have Austin Reeves in it and if I’m the Lakers I’m saying wait we just resigned Austin Rees to a great contract that’s kind of a lateral move for us and so

Then you start to think bigger and I had an executive from another team spitball with me yesterday could the Lakers if Reeves is involved construct a bigger deal where they get de Jon Murray and bang bonovich the Sharpshooter they so badly need now that’s got to include Ru haimura Andor D’Angelo Russell more

Draft compensation Jordan Hood chafino it just starts to get super complicated particularly with the Lakers already over the tax and near the hard cap as Bobby marks reminded me these deals the more players you add to them the harder they are to construct but for a player

Of dejon Murray’s caliber I think the Hawks are rightfully going to say we need Austin Reeves and the Lakers are going to say oh that doesn’t seem awesome for us it’s it’s a tough tough spot cuz look I’ve said it all season their offense stinks their 24th in

Offensive efficiency we have spent the first 10 minutes of this show talking about the losing side of this coin so let’s give a little love to the Phoenix Suns here Zach what stood out to you from the big three last night yeah a team won the game and a

Team that has about as much at stake in winning this season as the Lakers do given what they traded to build this big three of Durant Booker and Beal and I just want to highlight a couple of plays because every game now is going to be how do these three fit together on

Offense can they maximize their skills two play stood out here’s KD bringing the ball up pass to nerk kind of a pick and roll and look what Anthony Davis has to do on this on this pitch play Drop way back kick back to nurkic this is a

Draymond Green play ad or all the way back there hand off to Booker he misses an open three but I like it cuz they’re going to need to get threes up and this made me smile Brad Beal screening for KD which way is the screen going to go we

Don’t know and now KD’s got the mismatch Brad Beal rolls into open space options all over the place that those plays are the best Phoenix players amplifying each other making things easier for each other because if it’s just your turn my turn mid-range twos it’s too hard even

For players of that caliber to win four playoff series so just every game do we see signs of growth from a team that just hasn’t been good enough yet even with all three of their guys in last night signs of growth absolutely but we we we already knew that when like

Phoenix when they’re when they’re clicking could be one of the best offensive teams in the league right we know that but Kevin Durant I’ve been begging for him to be a leader right in this show last night from jump ball from the tip off he guarded LeBron James he did what kawhai

Leonard did to him a couple nights ago he made it tough on LeBron LeBron was three for 11 uh KD couple Force turnovers we saw it in the Highlight when they got in transition That was cuz KD was guarding LeBron tried to Quick spin the act act activity of the hands

Kevin Durant has to be the leader we could beg and plead and when Devin book is going to take that leap if this son’s team is going to be a title Contender they have to be led by Kevin Durant and he has to do it on a night toight basis

When was the last time we saw LeBron James have 10 points in a game the night he sprained his ankle against the Hawks a couple years ago and hit a three just to keep it alive the streak alive I thought the H I thought the um they had

Great spirit the Suns last night their team had great spirit on the bench they had great spirit on the court cheering for each other they’re working on it Frank vogle is working on his rotations trying to figure it out they’re trying to tweak their fourth quarter rotations

To to get deal with that problem and most importantly I thought Bradley Beal looked great but he had an explosive dunk against the Clippers the other day I was at the game I was like wow he does look like that back is better he goes

Eight of 10 on threes I know he’s not going to do that every night obviously but he showed great um bounce in his step and I thought it was a great step forward for the Suns last night I I thought they were going to leave him in

For 40 I really did I thought there he was going to go I think he thought so too when they took him Out

The Lakers are keeping an eye on Dejounte Murray – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today
The NBA Today crew discuss the state of the Los Angeles Lakers and what they need to do to improve their team.

0:00 How can the Lakers avoid hitting rock bottom?
1:40 What moves should the Lakers make before the trade deadline?
3:50 Can the Lakers afford to be outbid for Dejounte Murray?
7:00 Is this the version of the Suns we’ve been waiting for?
#nbatoday #nba

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