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The Athletic’s Shams Charania continued pointing to Dejounte Murray, who sealed the Atlanta Hawks’ 138-122 win over the Lakers Tuesday night, as Los Angeles’ top trade target.
But the Lakers are also considering other options.
“Dejounte Murray is going to continue to emerge as the top target for the Lakers, from what I’m told. I expect talks to resume before the deadline next Thursday. Another scenario to keep an eye on, players that the Lakers do have interest in I’m told, is three guys from the Nets: Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, Royce O’Neale,” Charania said on the “Run It Back” on FanDuel TV on January 31.
A Los Angeles native, Dinwiddie is set to become an unrestricted free agent. The Nets view him as not part of their future, according to Hoopshype’s Michael Scotto.
Dinwiddie’s 3-point shot has cratered over the past one-and-a-half seasons in Brooklyn after hitting a career-high 40.4% in 76 games with the Dallas Mavericks.
Will a homecoming and playing off LeBron James and Anthony Davis rejuvenate Dinwiddie?
Meanwhile, rival executives believe Brooklyn could potentially garner multiple second-round picks in exchange for O’Neale while Finney-Smith could fetch a first-round pick and a rotation player, according to Scotto.
Both O’Neale and Finney-Smith profile as 3-and-D wings.
Hawks Fans Troll Lakers Guard D’Angelo Russell
The Hawks are not interested in D’Angelo Russell and so are their fans.
Atlanta fans heckled Russell while he was shooting free throws in the first half with “We don’t want you!” chants.
The heckling may have gotten into Russell’s mind as he struggled from the field, hitting only 3 of 11 shots to finish with just nine points.
Russell entered Tuesday night’s matchup with Murray averaging 27.0 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 51.2% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line. He picked the wrong time to play his worst game since his return to the Lakers’ starting lineup.
The Lakers have reconsidered trading Russell after his resurgence, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, but that was before the team’s back-to-back losses to the Houston Rockets and the Hawks.
“The Lakers were initially said to be willing to package Russell with a first-round pick in 2029 and a first-round pick swap in exchange for Murray — with Austin Reaves completely off limits. That pursuit appears to have been dialed back some with Russell playing so well,” Stein wrote in his January 28 substack newsletter.
Did his poor showing in Atlanta against Murray, the Lakers’ top trade target, change things again?
Is Darvin Ham’s Seat Warming Up Again?
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor criticized the Lakers ownership for being “too cheap” to hire NBA champion coach Ty Lue, who is close to James when they had the chance.
Now they are hoping that Darvin Ham can make things work again as he did in the second half of last season to reach the Western Conference Finals. But O’Connor does not believe it will be the case.
“It may not matter what acquisitions the Lakers make since Ham has also been one of the NBA’s worst coaches and it appears he has lost the trust of his roster,” O’Connor wrote on January 30. “Blame is shared by everyone in charge. Hiring an unproven head coach was a risk by [General Manager Rob] Pelinka and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss from the beginning.”
O’Connor speculated that assistant coach Phil Handy, who was also under Lue’s staff during James’ championship run in Cleveland, is waiting in the wings should the Lakers fire Ham.
“If LeBron still had the power he did in Cleveland when David Blatt got fired midway through the 2015-16 season … Ham would certainly be a goner by now too, probably in favor of assistant coach Phil Handy,” O’Connor wrote.
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