Grade the trade: Hawks receive high mark for Dejounte Murray deal

Grade the trade: Hawks receive high mark for Dejounte Murray deal

The Hawks are already off and running with their offseason, drafting Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick and trading Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. Those were the two biggest dominoes of the Summer for Atlanta, and they fell quickly.

As the dust settles, the Hawks and Pelicans are being given high marks for their end of the deal. Atlanta ended up with two first-round picks, Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr., and New Orleans didn’t have to part ways with their own first-round picks and significantly upgraded their offense.

New Orleans Pelicans get:

G Dejounte Murray

Atlanta Hawks get:

C Larry Nance Jr.

F E.J. Liddell

G Dyson Daniels

2025 first-round pick (via Lakers)

2027 first-round pick (least favorable of Milwaukee/New Orleans)

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton gave the Hawks a B+ for the Dejounte Murray trade:

“The Hawks had to trade one of their guards after finding last season that Murray and Trae Young were far less effective together than on their own running a team.

I would have preferred to keep Murray, who signed a below-market extension last year that pays him less than the average point guard. (Immanuel Quickley, for example, agreed to a deal Friday that will pay him more than Murray over the next four seasons.)

At the same time, other teams also have access to Atlanta’s cap sheet and may have valued Murray more than Young in the trade market for the same reasoning. If the Hawks were going to deal Murray, this is strong return, netting them two first-round picks, a recent lottery pick and getting them out of the luxury tax.”

The 2025 first-round pick from the Lakers is expected to be outside of the lottery, but I wouldn’t be so sure. With a brittle Anthony Davis and an aging LeBron James, Los Angeles is very capable of being a dumpster fire this season. It could end up being quite a valuable draft pick in an absolutely loaded 2025 draft class.

Larry Nance is on an expiring deal but gives the Hawks length off the bench and a pick-and-roll partner for Trae Young, but Dyson Daniels is the one piece I’m very intrigued about. He’s an elite point-of-attack defender who hasn’t quite found his shot consistently. With Young, Daniels should have plenty of catch-and-shoot opportunities.

The Hawks got a large percentage of the capital back that they sent the Spurs for Dejounte Murray, so this trade has to be seen as a good deal for Landry Fields and Atlanta.

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