Dejounte Murray, D’Angelo Russell Trade Being Discussed

The Atlanta Hawks have been the center of attention lately, with them wanting to get rid of Dejounte Murray, making a lot of teams ready to scoop him up. With all the competition for Murray, the Los Angeles Lakers are making moves and already discussing trade packages.

Per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, both sides want to swap guards in this interesting package. Los Angeles would give Atlanta Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2029 first-rounder, and some other draft assets. Atlanta would give up just Murray.

It’s also been reported the Lakers are making Austin Reaves untouchable, and the Hawks are making Trae Young untouchable.

Buha said while talks have stalled out, they’re expected to pick back up closer to teams getting to this season’s trade deadline. Rob Pelinka is taking this time before the deadline to assess if moves need to be done and, if so, make some according to their needs.

D’Angelo Russell Day-To-Day With Hip Injury

D’Angelo Russell Day-To-Day With Hip Injury

The Lakers will continue to be without D’Angelo Russell due to his sore right hip injury, Los Angeles has him listed as day-to-day.

He aggravated his hip in their game against the Phoenix Suns, he has missed one game so far with this injury. However, the team still won the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Russell has now missed seven games since getting traded to the Lakers. 

D’Angelo Russell could be traded

D’Angelo Russell could be traded

With D’Angelo Russell being in his final year of his massive contract and the Timberwolves having interest in Mike Conley, per my podcast episode, it shouldn’t come as a shock that the ‘Wolves are considering to move on from him.

Despite shooting 46% from the field (career-high) and scoring 17.1 points per game, Minnesota could be looking to move on from him and get some pieces in return.

They want to trade him and not let him walk in free agency this summer; Russell is an unrestricted free agent with full power to go anywhere he chooses, team can’t retain him by matching an offer. Plus, if he leaves as an unrestricted free agent then the team won’t be able to replace Russell. That’s pretty much dead space for the Timberwolves and something all general managers and front offices don’t want to have happening with an expensive expiring contract player.

It also comes to no surprise that the Timberwolves are exploring all their options as last trade deadline they were looking to see if they can test his marketability and try to trade him. This time, they will try to see if they can come up with better results – whether that is keeping him or trading him is up to the organization.

The number one player being targeted by Minnesota is Mike Conley, who is playing exponentially better than Russell. Only con is the age difference, however, for the Timberwolves needs (along with some of the younger guards needs), the veteran point guard would be the better choice and could further this team for the playoffs.

The last time D’Angelo Russell was traded was back in 2019 from the Golden State Warriors to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That was the trade where fans saw Andrew Wiggins go to the Warriors and Russell go to the Timberwolves.

CourtSideHeat will keep you all updated and informed on what happens to D’Angelo Russell till the deadline arrives.

The Podcast Episode is LIVE: