All signs still point to Dejounte Murray playing elsewhere after the February 8th trade deadline. Trae Young has surely come to grips with that seemingly inevitable reality by now, Murray's fit alongside him never quite working the dynamic way  the Atlanta Hawks envisioned while sending three first-round picks and an additional pick swap to the San Antonio Spurs in summer 2022. His days in Atlanta almost surely numbered, at least Murray is going out with a bang—and no one seems happier about it than Young.

The Hawks beat the Miami Heat 109-108 on Friday after Murray splashed a deep, go-ahead triple over Caleb Martin with two seconds left in the fourth quarter. His late-game heroics marked the second time in three night Murray sent Atlanta to last-second victory, coming on the heels of his game-winning, buzzer-beating jumper against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

After the game, Young celebrated Murray's epic recent shot-making spree on Twitter.

Making Murray's game-winners all the more impressive? They've come when Young both hasn't been himself and available at all. The Hawks' franchise player didn't suit up in Miami due to illness, and went just 5-of-14 from the field as Atlanta upset Orlando. Murray, meanwhile, has combined for 48 points, 16 assists, eight rebounds and four steals over the last two games, his crunch-time dramatics serving as the cherry on top of two stellar performances.

Trade suitors circle Dejounte Murray amid crunch-time heroics

Dejounte Murray with several question marks above his head

After the Toronto Raptors finally bit the bullet by trading OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam in recent weeks, Murray has emerged as the marquee player most likely to be moved by February 8th. Rumors of additional suitors for the former All-Star surfaced in wake of his buzzer-beater vs. Orlando, and all of those teams—but potentially one in particular—will no doubt be even more intrigued by the prospect of adding Murray after he got the Hawks another clutch win against the Heat.

The Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams that have been circling Murray for weeks. The buzz around Murray and Los Angeles “is only increasing,” Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported on Friday, and what transpired in both South Beach and Hollywood on Friday night certainly won't quiet it going forward.

The Lakers squandered an early double-digit lead at Crypto.com Arena, completely unable to string together second-half stops in a 130-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Jacque Vaughn's team entered the game 1-9 in its last 10 outings, too, underscoring just how ugly Los Angeles' performance was after a strong start.

Would the Lakers have beaten the Nets with Murray in the fold? There's no way to say for sure, but his on-ball defense—once at an all-league level before declining once Murray took on more usage—would certainly have come in handy against Cam Thomas, who shot 13-of-18 from the field en route to 33 points. Los Angeles didn't get much from Austin Reaves offensively, and LeBron James never found his footing absent a brief, dominant run in the second quarter.

Murray definitely won't fix all of the big-picture issues that ail the Lakers. They need multiple moves to better balance a roster that might've played over its head while advancing to the Western Conference Finals last season. The better he plays with the Hawks leading up to the trade deadline, though, the easier it will be for Rob Pelinka and company to pull the trigger on a deal that brings him to Los Angeles.