Two years ago, ahead of the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers were looking for a new starting point guard, and Kyrie Irving was available. LeBron James wanted to reunite with his old Cleveland Cavaliers teammate, but the Lakers couldn’t get a deal done before Irving was shipped off to Dallas instead.
This left the Lakers with no choice but to turn to alternative options, which landed D’Angelo Russell, a poor man’s Kyrie Irving, except this one doesn’t play any defense and lacks consistency.
While D-Lo has had moments of impressive play, he’s also had times when he’s nothing but a liability, whether he’s missing shots or getting attacked when he’s playing defense. Ultimately, we learned that Russell wasn’t the solution in Los Angeles, and now he has the right to become a free agent, depending on whether he wants to play under his $18.6 million player option.
Russell’s future in LA is unclear, but the Lakers had a chance to avoid this situation by agreeing to trade their starting point guard earlier in the season. There was even an All-Star available.
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Los Angeles Lakers could have swapped D’Angelo Russell for Dejounte Murray
According to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, and Brooklyn Nets were in discussions on a three-team swap just ahead of the 2024 trade deadline.
The trade would have sent D’Angelo Russell to Atlanta, with All-Star combo guard Dejounte Murray heading back to Los Angeles, with other various parts involved. Yet, talks reportedly broke down specifically between Los Angeles and Atlanta.
It’s not known what else Atlanta was looking for. Chances are, they wanted additional compensation in the form of draft picks or other valued Lakers assets. Yet, perhaps having Murray in place of Russell would have given the Lakers a better chance at advancing past the first round of the NBA Playoffs. We’ll never know.
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