LeBron’s voice looms large when assessing a potential Dejounte Murray-Lakers
deal
(標題太聳動 我改掉了)
https://reurl.cc/E4b9Rv
As of this Tuesday dispatch, this NBA trade deadline season has been, well,
dead.
The OG Anunoby-to-the-Knicks deal was last year, for crying out loud (Dec.
30). The Pascal Siakam-to-the-Pacers trade was almost a month ago at this
point. And since then, we’ve gotten … Steven Adams to the Rockets. And an
injured Steven Adams, no less.
But with two days left before the Thursday deadline (3 p.m. Eastern), and
with the chance remaining that the fireworks might go off here at the end,
there’s at least one high-profile scenario still on the board worth
examining from all sides: Dejounte Murray to the Lakers. And with all due
respect to the involved parties, from the Hawks front office that has so much
to ponder here to the Lakers side that was so widely celebrated when it had a
fantastic trade deadline performance around this time a year ago, the
widespread intrigue here revolves around one man: LeBron James.
While the 39-year-old has not publicly campaigned for the Murray deal in the
way he did for Anthony Davis in 2018, he has been sending all sorts of
signals lately that he would like the Lakers to do something of significance.
Add in that James can become a free agent in fewer than five months from now,
and it’s not hard to understand why there’s so much spotlight on this
situation at the moment. With that in mind, let’s unpack how they all got
here and whether this is a deal that should get done.
一直到今天，NBA交易截止日的相關報導都非常冷清。
OG Anunoby到尼克的交易案已經是去年了(12/30)。Siakam交易至溜馬的交易也已經是快一
個月前的事情。那之後我們只得到了Steven Adams去火箭的交易。而且是受傷的Adams。
但在距離星期四截止日期還有兩天的情況下(東岸時間下午3點)，仍然存在煙火可能在
這裡爆炸的機會，至少還有一個值得從各個方面仔細研究的高調交易案：Dejounte Murray
加盟湖人。考量所有參與方，從需要考慮非常多的老鷹管理層到去年在這個時候在交易截
止日有出色表現的湖人方，這裡的廣泛好奇心都環繞著一個人：LeBron James。
雖然這名39歲的球員還這次沒有如同2018年呼籲管理層交易來Anthony Davis那般公開呼籲
的行為，他確實有向湖人釋放一些必須做些甚麼的信號。再加上LBJ在不到5個月的時間就
可以成為自由球員，現在為什麼這個情況受到如此多的關注也就不難理解了。考慮到這一
點，讓我們深入了解他們是如何走到這一步的，以及是否應該完成這筆交易。
Hawks-Lakers talks
As our Lakers beat writer, Jovan Buha, detailed here, the Lakers’ trade
talks with Atlanta have continued in recent weeks. The holdup, as has been
widely reported for quite some time, is the Hawks’ clear disinterest in
taking back D’Angelo Russell and the need for a different landing spot for
the Lakers guard as a result (Brooklyn is routinely highlighted by league
sources as a Russell candidate here). The Hawks are known to covet Austin
Reaves, whom the Lakers have no interest in giving up. The Lakers, per Buha,
have offered Russell, rookie guard (and 17th pick) Jalen Hood-Schifino, the
2029 first-round pick (preferably protected) and additional draft
compensation.
As for the contracts, here’s how they break down.
Russell: Owed $17.3 million this season, with a player option worth $18.6
million in 2024-25.
Murray: Signed through the 2026-27 campaign, with a player option worth $31.6
million in 2027-28. If he picked up that option, the lump sum owed from this
season to the end of 2027-28 is $132.5 million. Murray, like James and fellow
Lakers star Anthony Davis, is represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.
湖人-老鷹的談話
如同我們湖人寫手Jovan Buha所說，湖人與老鷹的交易談話在這幾周又持續了。而阻礙這
交易的就是先前被大量報導老鷹隊D'Angelo Russell不感興趣的這件事情並需要尋求第三
方來處理Russell(籃網不斷的被提及為Russell的落腳可能)。老鷹也被知道想要Austin
Reaves，而湖人並不想要放棄他。根據Buha所言，湖人提供了Russel、菜鳥後衛(17順位)
Jalen Hood-Schifino以及2029首輪選秀權(希望能被保護的)以及額外的選秀補償。
而合約分析如下
Russell:今年17.3M 本季結束有24-25球季18.6M的球員選項
Murray:有到26-27球季的控制權並在27-28有一個31.6M的球員選項。如果他執行選項那將
會是到27-28球季132.5M的合約。Murray，如同James與湖人另一名球星Anthony Davis，都
是雇用Klutch Sports的Rich Paul為他們的經紀人。
The Lakers’ and LeBron’s (annual) pressure play
When it comes to James — aka the Benjamin Button of basketball — his
ability to continue playing at an elite level at this advanced age means
there will always be pressure on the Lakers’ ownership and front office to
maximize the roster around him. So with this season’s Lakers mired in
mediocrity again, currently standing at ninth place in the Western Conference
at 27-25 after winning their last three, it should come as no surprise that
the annual LBJ leverage games are back.
James has long since become the master of his own message, using all of the
various platforms at his disposal to communicate in the kind of way that
would be worthy of inclusion in “The Da Vinci Code.” The rare exception
came in January 2023, when his declaration that “Y’all know what the f—
should be happening” in our interview about that trade deadline season was a
moment of LeBron candor the likes of which we rarely see. Sure enough, he
walked it back on social media the next day.
So when James hit send last week on the hourglass tweet seen ’round the
Association, then later declined a request to explain its meaning while
speaking to reporters in New York, it sparked the latest round of speculation
about what he was truly saying.
湖人與LeBron(年度)的壓力角力
當我們提到James