127 sats \ 11 replies \ @gnilma 16 Jan \ on: NBA Trade Season Contest Stacker_Sports
Dejounte Murray to the Lakers for D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and 1st round pick
That's probably the smarter trade, but I'm starting to think the Lakers will be the Zach Levine destination.
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Levine makes sense for the Lakers too, because they obviously need the 3 point shooting. But I think that contract is such a pain in the ass that the Lakers wouldn't want to touch it. I think they're also looking to up their defense and Levine has nothing to do with defense. At least Murray showed that he was able to play good defense even though his defensive numbers are slipping a bit now compared to the Spurs days.
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I agree with all of that...but something tells me the Lakers will screw this up and go with Levine.
Post LeBron, Levine and AD actually might be a solid tandem.
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How well the Lakers perform after LeGM retires is probably the last thing on his mind. But I could be totally wrong. We shall see what moves the Lakers make, but they will definitely make a move.
Taking another look, I feel that Murray actually fits better with the Warriors, because he is a ball dominant player and Steph is so good off ball. A major reason why Murray didn't work out with the Hawks is that both Young and Murray are ball dominant guards. Yes, I know the Warriors already have CP3, but he is not only hurt, but also way past his prime. Give Young a spot up shooter in Klay and give Curry a point guard that can also play defense, win win. But I've made my pick and will stick to the Murray to Lakers trade.
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Wow! Klay for Dejounte would have been a very bold prediction.
It's so obvious that Klay needs to be traded if they want to compete for another title with Steph, but I'm not sure if they're willing to do it.
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It would have to be Klay and Kuminga (or whichever young guy Atlanta likes) plus draft compensation and Golden State would have to take back some salary that Atlanta wants to move off of.
I think the main reason it won't happen is how much more Klay earns than Dejounte. It's just a hard trade to work out mechanically.
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It would be nice to get rid of a contract like that, free up cap space, and get someone decent. The problem is no one wants to be on the receiving end of that deal. You're right, this deal is hard to work out.
Plus, a lot of the Warriors' current assets stink. Wiggins flat out sucks, Klay is washed out, Green is unpredictable. Maybe Kuminga is the only good trade asset?