5 Reasons Lakers’ Best Trade Is For Dejounte Murray, Not Zach LaVine

The Los Angeles Lakers are now reportedly focusing their attention on a potential trade deadline move to acquire Atlanta Hawks’ star point guard Dejounte Murray instead of Chicago Bulls’ shooting guard Zach LaVine.

Physically, both players are approximately the same age and height, although Dejounte Murray has 2″ more wingspan and is in his 7th year in the NBA while LaVine weighs 20 lbs more and is in his 10th NBA season.
Zach has a history as an elite high-volume 3-point shooter but is currently only averaging 33.6% on 7.1 threes per game while Dejounte is shooting a career best 37.4% on a career high 6.2 threes per game for the season.

Dejounte Murray and Zach LaVine are both clients of Klutch Sports Group, who also currently represent Lakers’ superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis as well as valuable role players Cam Reddish, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
Here’s a breakdown of Dejounte Murray’s and Zach LaVine’s physical vitals, current annual salary, and current season and career statistics for points, rebounds, assists, types of shots attempted, and percent of shots made:

• Dejounte Murray, 27-years old, 6′ 5″, ws 6′ 8″, 180 lbs, $18.2M
  2023–24: 20.2/4.5/5.3 on 16.9/6.2/2.9 shots for 45.8%/37.4%/83.0%
  Career: 14.4/5.8/5.1 on 12.7/2.9/2.2 shots for 45.8%/34.1%/78.9%
• Zach LaVine, 28-years old, 6′ 5″, ws 6′ 10″, 200 lbs, $40.1M
  2023–24: 21.0/4.9/3.4 on 16.6/7.1/4.6 shots for 44.3%/33.6%/86.6%
  Career: 20.5/4.0/3.9 on 15.8/5.8/4.4 shots for 46.4%/38.2%/83.4%

While both players would immediately become third best on the team, Dejounte Murray is a better fit than Zach Lavine for what the Lakers need for five important reasons: price, contract, position, defense, and health.

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1. PRICE

The price of trading for Dejounte Murray in terms of matching salaries would be less than for Zach LaVine because the Lakers would only have to give up players earning a combined $18 million rather than $40 million.

While the Lakers would have to give up their 2029 first round draft pick, there’s an argument that giving a pair of surrounding pick swaps to a perpetual underachiever like the Atlanta Hawks was reasonable risk.
The Lakers not having to give up an additional $22 million in players for LaVine could be the difference between being a legit, deep championship contender or top-heavy pretender with 3-stars and no depth like the Suns.

The Lakers should trade for Dejounte Murray rather than Zach LaVine because the combined salaries saved would let them to retain their depth and keep up to $22 million in non-minimum salary rotation players.

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2. CONTRACT

The $132 million owed Dejounte Murray the next five years if the Lakers trade for him would be a much more manageable contract than the 4-year $178 million contract they would assume if they traded for Zach LaVine.

Dejounte Murray’s reasonable 5-years and $132 million would not hinder the Lakers financially, unlike Zach LaVine’s 4-year $178 million contract, which would clearly push the Lakers past the first luxury tax threshold.
More importantly, if the Lakers traded for LaVine, they would end up with significantly greater risk by putting all of their eggs into one basket rather than spending that $40 million per year on multiple rotation players.

The Lakers should trade for Dejounte Murray instead of Zach LaVine to insure greater financial flexibility over the next five years and reduce the risks of major injury by not adding a third max contract player.

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3. POSITION

Because the Lakers have committed to replacing D’Angelo Russell as their starting point guard, they would be smart to trade for the Hawks’ Dejounte Murray instead of Bulls’ Zach LaVine because he’s a legitimate point guard.

Right now, the Lakers are so desperate to find a starting point guard Darvin Ham has LeBron James playing the point, which has resulted in a dramatic drop in spacing and caused an uproar in social media to fire Darvin Ham.
The Lakers are hopeful that not having to share the point guard position with Trae Young could result in Murray posting numbers close to what he did in San Antonio in 2021–22 when he averaged 21.1/8.3/9.2 in 34.8 mpg.

The Lakers need a point guard to replace D’Angelo Russell, whom they’re committed to trading, and Dejounte Murray is a better solution than Zach LaVine because he would be able to play his natural point guard position.

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4. DEFENSE

What really separates Dejounte Murray from Zach LaVine as a star is his defense. Murray was NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2018 and averages 2.0 steals and blocks per game vs. LaVine’s 1.1 steals and blocks per game.

One of the recurring issues the Lakers have suffered over the last few years is the inability to find legitimate 3&D players who cannot be played off the court by either their inability to space the floor or to play quality defense.
The Lakers miss the aggressive point-of-attack defense of Dennis Schroder and hope Dejounte Murray, with his 6′ 5″ size, 6′ 10″ wingspan, and physical athleticism, could be the elite two-way point guard they desperately need.

Defense could be the single more important reason why the Lakers should trade for Dejounte Murray rather than Zach Lavine and why the former is a far better fit for what defense-first coach Darvin Ham wants for the team.

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5. HEALTH

Health and availability strongly favor the Lakers trading for Dejounte Murray, who is more durable and has averaged 66 games per season over 7 seasons vs. Zach LaVine who only averaged 62 games over 10 seasons.

LaVine’s health situation is further exacerbated by a current foot injury that’s kept him out of play the last few weeks and just highlights the real concerns over his balky knee and questionable prior injury history.
Murray has also logged fewer games and minutes than LaVine. In 10 years, Zach has played 573 games and 18,000 minutes over his career compared to just 424 games and 12,000 minutes for Dejounte over his 7 seasons.

Health and durability are another reason the Lakers should trade for Dejounte Murray rather than Zach LaVine. Murray is younger, has played a third fewer games and minutes than LaVine, and is less of an injury risk.