Assessing the Dejounte Murray Trade
For decades, fans have been praising the San Antonio Spurs for having one of the best and smartest front offices in the NBA. They don’t just make the right decisions in terms of the composition of their roster. They also take good care of their players which made some of their stars loyal to the franchise to the point that some were willing to take pay cuts for the sake of the team’s future.
They also know how to solve a crisis such as the Kawhi Leonard situation that led to the deal that sent Leonard up north to Toronto.
While the Spurs lost in the 2022 play-in tournament, fans remained optimistic for the future because the team had a young core that included Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, and Devin Vassell. And, the Spurs still have one of the greatest head coaches in NBA history, Gregg Popovich.
Then, the Spurs bucked tradition and blew up their young core.
Dejounte Murray Traded to Atlanta
Just a few hours before 2022 free agency opens, the Spurs became the latest team to make a significant roster move this offseason.
After five years in San Antonio, point guard Dejounte Murray is headed to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Danilo Gallinari and three draft picks. During the 2021-2022 regular season, Murray, the 29th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, averaged 21.1 points, 9.2 assists, 8.3 rebounds, and two steals per game.
Coming back the other way, Danilo Gallinari, a 12-year veteran, just finished a season where he averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 66 games.
Who Won the Trade?
Clearly, the Atlanta Hawks have the upper hand in the deal.
Dejounte Murray, who averaged a career-high 21.1 points last season, can become the dependable secondary scoring option that the Hawks missed over the last couple of seasons.
While the Hawks have multiple players who averaged double figures last year, led by Trae Young’s 28.4 points per game, they didn’t have a true scoring duo. That’s what Murray could bring into the table. More importantly, Murray could take over in games where Trae Young is struggling offensively.
Far too often during his brief tenure with the club, the Hawks went as Young went. If his shots were dropping, Atlanta could hang with anyone in the NBA. If they weren’t, they were often on the wrong side of a lopsided affair. With Murray now in tow, the Hawks hope to have more consistent offensive performances night in, night out.
On the other side of the coin, the Spurs gained another serviceable big man in Gallinari. San Antonio has been known as a team that can transform ageing veterans into useful role players. And they will have three additional draft picks they can use to build for their future championship runs. If there’s one NBA head coach that can make any trade work, it’s Gregg Popovich.
At the end of the day, it still boils down to how Dejounte Murray will fit into the system with the Hawks, and what role Atlanta expects him to play. While the Hawks are still undoubtedly Trae Young’s team, Murray is more than capable of playing lead guard to spell Young, while also possessing enough off ball wherewithal to be effective in a shooting guard role when required.
The Hawks now have two great playmakers who can also score at will. For Atlanta, it’s great news. For the rest of the NBA, it’s going to be a big problem.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.