Defensive effort helps Lakers take control of series against Trail Blazers

The Brooklyn Nets never budged from their asking price on a trade of Kevin Durant as their talks with the Phoenix Suns progressed during the week of the deadline. The Nets maintained a high asking price and received it from the Suns soon after Mat Ishbia assumed ownership.

Not only did the Nets acquire the full assortment of future first round picks and swaps from the Suns, but both Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. The Suns were entirely unwilling to trade Bridges and Johnson for Durant last offseason.

“What I know is Brooklyn put out an offer on Monday, I believe, at least the beginning of the week, and pretty much didn’t budge from that offer,” said Brian Windhorst. “And I don’t know how close they got with any other teams. I have no idea, but they pretty much said ‘This is what it’s going to take.’

“And the Suns, at the end of the day, acquiesced to it. They did because Ishbia was there, but as the week went on and they discussed it more and more, and they looked at it, I believe from my discussions that James Jones was in alignment with Mat Ishbia. I think that it is easy to make an assumption and I kind of was thinking that might have been the case, but I did the reporting and I feel comfortable in saying there was alignment in the organization.”

The Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks have discussed the framework of a trade for Dejounte Murray involving D’Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2029 first-round draft pick, and more draft compensation, sources told Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Buha adds that talks stalled out but are expected to pick up as the trade deadline nears.

The Lakers plan to use the time leading up to the deadline to continue to assess the roster before making a deal.

Austin Reaves is close to untouchable in any potential trade talks.

Murray was linked with the Bucks earlier on Friday.