If you asked a Lakers fan what opposing player they despised most, they’d probably list every Thunder player on the roster, but that’s because they’re down 2-0 in the playoffs to OKC right now. If you asked a fan on a regular day, there is a good chance the answer would be Jamal Murray. They’d love nothing more than for the Denver Nuggets to trade him this offseason, preferably out of the West.
Well, that could be in the cards, as Josh Kroenke said on Friday, “Everything’s on the table right now, outside of trading Nikola.”
Kroenke went on to say that running it back could be in the cards, so don’t interpret that as meaning that the Nuggets will make every player but Joki available for trade. All Lakers fans care about, though, is that there’s a chance Murray could be gone. They’re going to hold onto that, no matter how slim it might be, and hope for the best.
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For whatever reason, when Murray goes up against Los Angeles, he snatches the best player in the world title away from Joki.
He’s crushed that fanbase’s hopes one too many times, a trend that could continue if he ends up somewhere new, but those fans aren’t thinking about that right now. Getting him out of Denver in general is preferable, though they’d love to see him end up somewhere on the other side of the country.
Lakers would celebrate the Nuggets trading Murray like an NBA title
Jamal really has been that much of a thorn in LA’s side. He averaged 32.5 points on 52.7% shooting from the field and 40.5% shooting from three against the Lakers when the Nuggets swept them in the 2023 conference finals before winning their first-ever title. In Game 2 of that series, he scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter for the come-from-behind win.
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The following year, in the playoffs, he averagedjust23.6 points in five first-round games, when Denver took the series in five. Murray hit two game-winners against the Lakers, one in Game 2 en route to a 20-point comeback and the other in Game 5 to advance to the semifinals. Oh, and he did so while dealing with a calf strain.
The absolute last person that the Lakers want to see on the other side of the court in the playoffs is Jamal Murray. If there is a way to drastically decrease the chances of that happening again in the future, they’re all for it.
A trade would do just that, but that’s not a move that Denver should make yet. Murray still has at least one more game-winner in him against the Lakers in the playoffs, right?
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This article was originally published on www.nugglove.com as Nuggets’ latest reveal is music to the ears of Lakers fans everywhere.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’
