Hawks trade All-Star guard to Pelicans
Dejounte Murray.
The Hawks are trading guard Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (X link). In exchange for Murray, the Pelicans are sending forward Larry Nance Jr. and two first-round picks, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (X link).
Charania also notes that 2022 No. 8 overall pick Dyson Daniels is also part of the package heading to Atlanta in exchange for Murray.
According to Wojnarowski, the picks the Pelicans are sending the Hawks in the deal are a 2025 first-round pick via the Lakers and a 2027 first-round pick, which is the least favorable between Milwaukee and New Orleans (X link).
Because the Pelicans aggregated the salaries of Nance and Daniels, they’re hard capped at the $178.7M first apron, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. Murray has $1.5M in unlikely bonuses that count toward the cap.
The Hawks originally acquired Murray in 2022 to pair next to star Trae Young. Atlanta sacrificed multiple first-round picks to the Spurs to give Young a running mate in the backcourt, but the duo never panned all the way out.
While Murray was individually solid — averaging 21.5 points per game across 152 appearances with Atlanta over two seasons — the Hawks floundered as a team. The Hawks went 77-87 in Murray’s two years with the team with one playoff appearance — a first-round loss to the Celtics.
With the Hawks struggling at the mid-point of the 2023/24 season, Murray’s name began to come up in trade conversations ahead of the deadline. The Lakers were among the popular destinations mentioned, but the Hawks opted to not move him at that time.
For the Pelicans, this trade signals the team is ready to continue to climb the Western Conference standings after making the playoffs this season. At the very least, Murray provides offense for a team that went 2-14 in close games last season. As Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link), the team is still trying to come to terms on a middle ground with Brandon Ingram on a contract extension. Ingram’s name has frequently come up in trade rumors this offseason and, while Murray’s contract is modest relatively speaking ($28.5M AAV, 61st-highest in NBA), it could still have implications on Ingram’s future if the team was already unwilling to fully commit to a max extension with him.
Additionally, the Pelicans find themselves just $2.6M under the luxury tax line. They’ve never paid the luxury tax before but find themselves in need of frontcourt depth, with just Zion Williamson, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Yves Missi as options for those spots.
As for Atlanta, all eyes turn toward the rest of their veteran pieces. By trading Murray, the Hawks are clearly signaling they’re willing to hear offers on most of their players. As Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported this morning, all players except for Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher are on the table. While that unsurprisingly means players like Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter, for example, are on the trade block, it also might signal the end of Young’s career in Atlanta.
Young, like Murray, has been brought up in trade rumors since the start of the offseason and it sounds like the Hawks are at least entertaining offers for their three-time All-Star. We’ll likely get clarity on both Ingram and Young’s situations with the Pelicans and Hawks in the coming weeks or even days.
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