Lakers predicted to pair Luka Doncic with Warriors' $112 million star trade target

It’s reasonable to assume the Los Angeles Lakers won’t hesitate to make life challenging for the Golden Warriors if possible. 

One way to make that happen would be to steal one of the Dubs’ offseason trade targets and strengthen their flawed roster. In Lake Show Life’s Svyatoslav Rovenchuk’s opinion, the Luka Doncic-led Lakers could do just that, as the NBA journalist suggested that Los Angeles could land the Warriors’ $112 million star trade target this summer.

“Selling the idea of (Trey) Murphy being a terrific addition to the Lakers is not difficult,” Rovenchuk wrote last Thursday. “The (New Orleans) Pelicans wing can perfectly slide in for pretty much any team in the NBA. Even so, he'd be a particularly attractive addition for Los Angeles.”

“The Lakers have craved shooting all year. Murphy is shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc this season and is a career 38.2% marksman overall. You can probably hear Luka Doncic screaming 'yes please' off in the distance somewhere.”

“The real discussion here comes from whether the Lakers can muster up enough draft capital and assets to make any deal worth the Pelicans' time. They will have added first-round picks to work with in potential trades.”

It seems like the Lakers aren’t giving up on their aggressive pursuit of Murphy anytime soon. Things didn’t work out as planned during the trade season, but according to a mid-February report from Forbes’ Evan Sidery, Los Angeles is expected to re-engage in trade talks surrounding Murphy this summer. 

As Sidery noted, though, the Warriors are also set to pursue the elite three-and-D wing in the offseason, creating a fierce competition between the two storied Western Conference franchises. 

If the Lakers are willing to go above and beyond this summer, they could be the organization that secures Murphy’s services.

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