{"id":568895,"date":"2026-01-29T17:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/568895\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T17:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:13:12","slug":"lakers-linked-to-mystery-wing-defender-with-strong-luka-doncic-chemistry-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/568895\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers linked to mystery wing defender with strong Luka Doncic chemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lakers linked to mystery wing defender with strong Luka Doncic chemistry<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic has found immense success since joining the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> alongside LeBron James. But the front office believes the roster requires additional help on the wing.<\/p>\n

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The franchise is positioned fifth in the Western Conference. Following a 129\u201399 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>, their offensive rating is 117.9, ranking them sixth in the NBA for efficiency.<\/p>\n

General Manager Rob Pelinka has targeted defenders to support the roster for a serious title push. A Los Angeles Times report identified<\/a> Naji Marshall as a priority.<\/p>\n

Marshall spent time as a teammate of Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> organization. The 27-year-old forward signed with Dallas during the 2024 offseason to provide defensive versatility.<\/p>\n

He is averaging<\/a> 14.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for the Mavericks this season. Marshall also shoots 54.5 percent from the field in his current role.<\/p>\n

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Broderick Turner of the LA Times noted the team \u201chas interest in trading for\u201d the wing. His familiarity with Doncic makes him an appealing tactical fit.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic\u2019s ex-Mavs teammate Naji Marshall surfaces as Lakers trade priority<\/p>\n

The Lakers have explored deals involving Rui Hachimura and his expiring $ 18 million contract. Management is willing to attach a 2032 first-round pick to secure specific upgrades.<\/p>\n

Other potential targets include De’Andre Hunter from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Donte DiVincenzo. DiVincenzo won a title in 2021 and averages 13.4 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> forwards Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones remain coveted long-term interests for Los Angeles. However, the Pelicans reportedly demand multiple first-round picks for either player.<\/p>\n

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The Mavericks sit at 19-27 and could become sellers before the February 5 trade deadline. Acquiring Marshall would solidify the perimeter defense around the star offensive backcourt.<\/p>\n

A trade for Marshall can help Los Angeles balance the desire to win now with future opportunities. The trade deadline will show if the team is ready to make a big push for another championship.<\/p>\n

More NBA news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lakers linked to mystery wing defender with strong Luka Doncic chemistry originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,193,149,372,4202,185,251,150,368,152,5989,470,1012,6514,574],"class_list":{"0":"post-568895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","10":"tag-dallas-mavericks","11":"tag-donte-divincenzo","12":"tag-herb-jones","13":"tag-lebron-james","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","16":"tag-luka-doncic","17":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","18":"tag-naji-marshall","19":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","20":"tag-rui-hachimura","21":"tag-trey-murphy-iii","22":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115979512497457696","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}