GOOD NEWS:Insider Explains Lakers’ “Another Scenario” Besides the Trade for…
Shams Charania of The Athletic has persisted in identifying Dejounte Murray as Los Angeles’ primary trade target. Murray closed out the Atlanta Hawks’ 138-122 victory over the Lakers on Tuesday night.
However, the Lakers are also thinking about alternative choices.
“I have heard that Dejounte Murray will remain the Lakers’ primary goal. Talks should pick back up before the deadline on Thursday of next week. Three Nets players—Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Royce O’Neale—are another situation to watch out for. The Lakers are reportedly interested in these players, according to Charania, who made this statement on the January 31 episode of FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back.”
Dinwiddie, a native of Los Angeles, will soon be free to sign with no restrictions. The Nets don’t see him as a member of their future, according to Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.
Dinwiddie’s 3-point shooting, which he reached a career-high 40.4% in 76 games with the Dallas Mavericks, has deteriorated during the last 1.5 seasons in Brooklyn.
Is Dinwiddie going to get better after returning home and playing with LeBron James and Anthony Davis?
Rival executives, according to Scotto, think Brooklyn may receive several second-round selections in return for O’Neale, while Finney-Smith might get a first-round pick and a rotation player.
O’Neale and Finney-Smith both have 3-and-D wing profiles.
Hawks Supporters Guard Troll Lakers
Both the Hawks and their supporters have no interest in D’Angelo Russell.
During Russell’s first-half free throw attempt, Atlanta supporters taunted him with shouts that said, “We don’t want you!”
Russell struggled from the field, making only three of his eleven shots and finishing with just nine points. It’s possible that the heckling had an effect on him mentally.
Before facing Murray on Tuesday night, Russell was averaging 27.0 points, 6.2 assists, and a 51.2% field goal and 50% three-point shooting percentage. His worst performance since rejoining the Lakers’ starting lineup came at the wrong moment.
NBA source Marc Stein claims that the Lakers had given up on moving Russell after his comeback, but that was before the team’s consecutive defeats to the Hawks and Houston Rockets.
In return for Murray, the Lakers were reportedly prepared to give Russell a 2029 first-round selection and a first-round pick swap, with Austin Reaves being strictly off-limits. Russell’s excellent play seems to have curtailed that chase somewhat, according to Stein’s January 28 substack message.
Did his lacklustre performance versus Murray, the Lakers’ main trade target, in Atlanta alter the situation once more?
Is Darvin Ham getting back in his seat?
When the Lakers had the opportunity, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer blasted the team’s ownership for being “too cheap” to bring in NBA champion coach Ty Lue, who is close to James.
They are now hoping that Darvin Ham, who made the playoffs in the Western Conference last season, can repeat his success from the second half of the previous campaign. O’Connor, though, doesn’t think that will happen.
O’Connor noted on January 30 that “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.” “Those in authority share the blame. From the start, [General Manager Rob] Pelinka and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss took a chance by hiring an inexperienced head coach.
If the Lakers dismiss Ham, O’Connor surmised that assistant coach Phil Handy, who was also on Lue’s staff during James’s championship run in Cleveland, is sitting in the wings.
“If LeBron had the same influence that he possessed in Cleveland following David Blatt’s dismissal in the middle of the 2015–16 campaign… Phil Handy, the assistant coach, would most likely replace Ham by now as well, according to O’Connor’s writing.
Alder Almo writes about basketball for Heavy, covering the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Knicks. He has worked in print, television, and digital media for more than 15 years, both domestically and internationally. In the past, he covered the NBA for Off the Glass and the Knicks for Empire Sports Media. Alder currently resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, but he was born in the Philippines. Details on Alder Almo
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