The Hawks made arguably the biggest trade of the offseason when they sent Dejounte Murray to New Orleans.
Landry Fields ended up getting Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., E.J. Liddell, a 2025 first-round pick (via Lakers), and a 2027 first-round pick (least favorable of Milwaukee/New Orleans) in return for Murray.
The duo of Trae Young and Murray was always a wonky fit, but I don’t even think the most pessimistic fans thought it was going to work out so poorly. The advanced metrics back it; however, if you have two eyes and a brain, you don’t need an Excel spreadsheet to see that the breakup was inevitable. A Hawks trade was always coming.
The deal may sting right now for the Hawks because they didn’t get back all of their draft capital that they initially sent to the Spurs, but they got back around 80% of it, and that has to be considered a win.
It was a run of the mill win-win for the Hawks and the Pelicans. Dyson Daniels and the pair of first-round picks give Atlanta assets to build around Trae Young, while Dejounte Murray immediately provides New Orleans some much-needed offense, both scoring and facilitating.
The Hawks are seemingly happy with the deal, but some of their fans are still licking their wounds. That isn’t the case in the Big Easy. Rightfully so, Dejounte Murray is excited to have his own team and a generational talent in Zion Williamson to pair with, showing off his new digs on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray/status/1808284257242280439
Dejounte Murray is a hell of a player, made of the right stuff. It was easy to root for him, and as an Atlanta fan, it sucks to see him potentially succeed in New Orleans, regardless of the Pelicans-Hawks lack of a rivalry.
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Photographer: Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire
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