If he were to become available, Lakers fans want Donovan Mitchell to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis as the team’s third star.
The Lakers have a lot of decisions to make this summer.
Should they try and improve the roster through the draft or look to find a third star to help LeBron James and Anthony Davis get over the hump in the West?
There are plenty of debates on the topic, but for our latest SB Nation Reacts poll, we stayed focused on the third star concept and asked which player fans wanted between Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, or Dejounte Murray.
The people have spoken and Mitchell received a whopping 68% of the vote, more than both Atlanta Hawks players combined.
These results are surprising as Young has similar numbers to Mitchell and has just as many accolades. Young has also led a team to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance and averages more assists, 10.8 per game, compared to Mitchell’s 6.1.
Perhaps fans prefer Mitchell because he is a bit bigger, more physical and averaged 26.8 points last season. That kind of scoring on 46% shooting is rare and fitting him alongside AD and LeBron is enticing.
Mitchell still has another year left on his contract, so the path towards trading for him is still murky. At some point this offseason, he’ll have to commit to the Cavaliers, or else they might have to trade him to ensure he doesn’t walk away for nothing in the summer of 2025.
Murray got the second most votes, with 20% of fans wanting the Lakers to pursue his services. In a vacuum, I think most people would say Young is better than Murray, but I think fans voted for Murray more than Young because of his fit with the team.
Murray could provide the Lakers with a more consistent scoring threat, which the rest of their core guys not named LeBron or AD lack. He also has the best defense compared to the other trade targets.
Is Murray a superstar? Absolutely not, but he doesn’t need to be. Murray would just need to facilitate the offense, score on open 3-pointers and play good defense. He’s demonstrated he can do all these things at a high level in Atlanta.
All three players are under contract, so they can only acquire one of them by using their first round picks and packaging other Lakers to get it done. Teams also have to be willing to move these guys and so far, nothing is definite on who will be on the trading block this summer.
