In the last few days, speculation began ramping up about the San Antonio Spurs and the potential of trading NBA All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray. The Spurs weren’t actively shopping him, but if a team was willing to meet their high asking price, they would be open to dealing him.
Well, a team met their asking price. The Dejounte Murray sweepstakes have already come to an end and the Atlanta Hawks are the big winners. They have acquired the San Antonio Spurs’ best player for a package that will surprise a lot of people.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Murray is heading to Atlanta in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, three first-round picks and a pick swap.
Hawks’ All-Star Trae Young wanted the team to acquire Murray and they were able to come through for the face of their franchise. Fans will be ecstatic about the fit between the two young guards.
While there will be some kinks to work out offensively, as both are used to having the ball in their hands, Nate McMillan has to be excited about the schemes that he can build up. Atlanta now has a player capable of running the offense, taking some pressure off of Young to carry the load on his own.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: This Hawks-Spurs Trade Pairs Trae Young, Dejounte Murray
Dejounte Murray’s arrival will enable the Hawks to play Young off the ball more, which should lead to even easier looks shooting the ball. He can be deployed similarly to Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard, two more long-range shooting point guards who benefitted from playing alongside other playmakers.
Where Murray will help the Hawks the most is on the defense. He is an elite defender, something the team desperately needed to help compensate for Young’s lack of impact on that end of the court. Atlanta now has an above-average defender at every level of their defense.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: This Hawks-Spurs Trade Pairs Trae Young, Dejounte Murray
As for the San Antonio Spurs, this trade signals the beginning of their rebuild. They made three selections in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft, so the process started last week and they committed even further by trading Dejounte Murray.
Stuck in the middle of the league, they have finally picked a direction to go in as they very well could bottom out this year with the goal of landing Victory Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft. San Antonio is now loaded with the kind of draft capital needed to make a jump up the board should the opportunity arise.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: This Hawks-Spurs Trade Pairs Trae Young, Dejounte Murray
In addition to the three picks they are landing from the Atlanta Hawks, they also have extra first-rounders in 2025 and 2028 courtesy of the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. They could look to add even more depending on what they do with players such as Josh Richardson and Jakob Poeltl.
