Dejounte Murray refutes report that Hawks attempted to trade him to Jazz for Keyonte George

A rumor has been circulating this week that the Atlanta Hawks attempted to trade Dejounte Murray to the Utah Jazz at this year’s trade deadline for a package centering around rookie guard Keyonte George.

“There was some talk about Dejounte Murray to the Jazz at the trade deadline, and it was going to cost the Jazz Keyonte George, and the Jazz said no,” Ben Anderson of KSL Sports said.

This rumor always smelled fishy. George had a solid rookie campaign, but any potential deal for Dejounte Murray would have had to include a lot more. It’s also questionable because of the fit. The primary reason the Hawks have considered moving Murray or Trae Young is because they haven’t worked well together, creating problems both defensively and offensively. It doesn’t make much sense that the Hawks would want to pair Young with another undersized ball dominant guard, especially after they just drafted Kobe Bufkin ahead of Keyonte George, who have very similar skill sets.

Perhaps there were some conversations, but I would be floored if the Hawks were seriously considering a swap of Dejounte Murray for Keyonte George at any point, and Atlanta’s All-Star guard seems to agree.

https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray/status/1793657445807685811

I would say that’s a pretty clear message from Dejounte Murray.

Of course, the Hawks aren’t going to inform players of every negotiation they are involved in, but it is rumor season in the NBA for every team that isn’t still standing in the Conference Finals, and the Hawks are going to be at the forefront of these rumors the entire offseason. Everyone expects them to make at least one significant trade to alter their roster, if not several. Some reports will carry some weight, but there will be a lot of crap.

My theory: if it walks like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. Sending Dejounte Murray to the Jazz in exchange for a player with a similar skill set — but a worse player overall — doesn’t make a ton of sense for a team trying to build a competitive team around Trae Young.

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