The NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching. There are only a couple of days left before teams can make final alterations to their roster. If a team wants to make a playoff push or trim their roster down and punt on the remainder of this season in exchange for draft picks, now is the time to do it. Two teams fit each bucket and could potentially work together on a trade: The Los Angeles Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks. Those two have been in deep trade discussions regarding Dejounte Murray for weeks now, and a trade could get pushed through between now and the trade deadline.

What would a trade with those two look like? That is the question worth asking and what both sides are negotiating over. Any trade for Murray would surely have to include D'Angelo Russell, primarily for salary reasons but also for the fact that he (and Murray) has been balling out of his mind recently. ESPN's Kevin Pelton threw out a hypothetical trade that could be enough for both sides and a third team. Would all sides be satisfied with this deal?

Trade

The Los Angeles Lakers acquire Dejounte Murray

The Atlanta Hawks acquire Spencer Dinwiddie and a 2029 first-round pick (via Lakers)

The Brooklyn Nets acquire D'Angelo Russell

Lakers grade: A

The Lakers have been getting torched by guards all season long. Just recently, Houston's Jalen Green and New York's Jalen Brunson dropped 34 and 36 points, respectively, on the Lakers, and Steph Curry put up 46 points on them prior to those two's excellent performances.

This has been an issue all year for the Lakers with countless examples. To make matters worse, the Lakers' best perimeter defender, Jarred Vanderbilt, was diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain that could hold him out for at least a month and maybe longer.

D'Angelo Russell is on a heater of late and has helped change the Lakers' offense. When he and Austin Reaves both share the floor, the Lakers have an offensive rating of 119, which ranks in the 71st percentile of Cleaning the Glass' lineup data. But they have a defensive rating of 122.1, which ranks in the 13th percentile.

When Reaves is on the floor without Russell, their offensive rating dips to 113.3 while their defensive rating rises to 115.5. When Russell is on the floor without Reaves, their offensive rating sits at 114.6 and their defensive rating is a robust 108.

Russell plays a lot with LeBron James against reserve units to start the second and fourth quarters, so that data can be a little noisy. But the point is the Lakers essentially have to choose between offense or defense with their backcourt. With both Russell and Reaves back in the starting lineup, they are leaning offense. But Murray can give them both. He's averaging a career-high 21.4 points per game, 46.6% field goal percentage, 37% three-point percentage, and 83.4% free throw percentage.

His defense has slumped a little this season but he is still good there and a new environment could invigorate him. Murray can really help the Lakers make another run in the playoffs this season.

Atlanta Hawks: B

The Atlanta Hawks traded three first-round picks for Dejounte Murray. There was plenty of hope that he could be the perfect pairing next to Trae Young, but that has not been the case. Last season, the Hawks had a +1.6 net rating with both Young and Murray on the floor together. This season, that has fallen to -4.6.

It just isn't working, so the Hawks would be pressing the eject button. While disappointing to drop two first-round picks for really nothing, clearing their cap sheet and getting a valuable 2029 first-round pick from the Lakers isn't the worst outcome. The Hawks would get out of Murray's impending $114 million extension too. If the Hawks want to rebuild, this is a way to start that path.

Brooklyn Nets: A

D'Angelo Russell averaged 22.7 points per game on 48.8/45.9/84.2 shooting splits in January. Spencer Dinwiddie is shooting the worst from the field (38.9%) he has in six seasons. The Nets are middle of the pack offensively, ranking 17th in offensive rating on the season.

They badly could use some more juice offensively and another initiator and creator to take some pressure off of Mikal Bridges and set him up to get easy shots. Russell can do that better than either Dinwiddie or Cam Thomas can. If the Nets can get Russell for only Dinwiddie, that would be a home run move for them.