There’s no deep-rooted rivalry between the Hawks and Pelicans other than the two cities boasting one of the most hated rivalries in the NFL with the Falcons and Saints. However, that may no longer be the case following the Dejounte Murray trade.
In one of his first interviews with his new squad, Murray sparked some drama in which it certainly seemed like he was throwing shade at his former team.
Dejounte Murray: I value playing the right way… When I know I'm playing defense but you've got a group of guys playing defense, its something you cant teach.. I love defense but it's a team thing. You can have one guy playing defense or two and the rest not and nothing happens pic.twitter.com/UCAEFMKNfh
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) July 9, 2024
The Hawks defensive rating with Dejounte Murray and Trae Young on the court was 118.7; with Murray on and Young off, it was 118.1, but with Young on the court and Murray off, it was 117.9 last season.
That would tell you that Trae Young is a better defender than Dejounte Murray or, at the very least, they are similar defensive players. The Hawks were unquestionably a terrible defensive team.
Any club with Trae Young, an undersized point guard, isn’t going to have an elite defense, but the hope was that Murray, who earned NBA All-Defense second-team honors in 2017-18 and has received at least one vote for the All-Defense team in five consecutive seasons, would help mitigate some of those issues. That wasn’t the case.
Since tearing his ACL, Dejounte Murray has certainly not been as effective on that end of the court, and Hawks fans took issue with his comments, taking to Twitter/X to set the record straight, to which DJM took the time to respond.
— Tru To The Game (@TruBaneVirgo) July 10, 2024
There are several other tweets from Murray that have since been deleted, but Hawks fans and the Pelicans’ new point guard went at it on social media last night. With the Hawks in the Eastern Conference and the Pels in the West, there’s no natural rivalry, but there certainly is one now. Those two games next season are going to be much watch television with Trae Young on one end and Dejounte Murray on the other.
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Photographer: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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