The DeJounte Murray Trade Is Just The Beginning…

The DeJounte Murray Trade Is Just The Beginning…

the Atlanta Hawks after months of trade speculation around Deon Murray around Trey Young have finally made their move it is Deon Murray headed to New Orleans in exchange for Larry Nance Dyson Daniels and a couple of first round picks and according to WJ neither of these teams are done making moves this off season yet either he mentions that Atlanta still has work to do this off season presumably in trying to find a direction for the franchise around Trey young or without Trey young meanwhile for New Orleans they’re still trying to figure out a new Brandon Ingram contract as he’s not even mentioned within this core that they could potentially be moving forward with now for Atlanta the motivations here are obvious we knew that they were going to try and break up this back cour this offseason whether they were going to be successful or not depended on the trade packages they expected in return we’ve gotten rumors all offseason about how Deonte Murray actually probably has better trade value around the league right now than Trey young does which is interesting because this doesn’t seem like a ton so if Trey young is worth a little bit less than this what exactly is Trey Young worth but we knew that this was a real possibility for them and this isn’t necessarily going into a full tank mode because they still have Trey they still have bonovich obviously they just picked the guy with the first overall pick they’ve still got some decent pieces it’s not like they’re one of the worst rosters in the league or anything but this was always a choice that needed to be made they needed to pick either Trey young to jonay Murray to trade away and they chose Murray I’m okay with the assets they got back I like Dyson Daniels I think in a different situation where he got more run in New Orleans he could really improve I really like him defensively he just got to figure out a way to shoot um and in what it was a very crowded defensive you know back court and Wing rotation there New Orleans he just wasn’t going to get a ton of run so I like getting him back they have the salary of Larry Nance as well the picks though aren’t exactly ideal so we’ve got a 2025 first round pick via the Lakers and a 2027 first that is the least favorable of Milwaukee and New Orleans and assuming that Giannis is still in Milwaukee that’s probably going to be a pick in the 20s and then the Lakers pick I mean even though they might be in danger of missing the play in I I be very surprised if that Lakers pick ends up being in the lottery so you’re looking at two picks outside of the top 15 plus Dyson Daniels and a salary in exchange for Deon Murray now clearly they have shopped this guy for a while so they know what the value of him is and this is the best offer that they got but I find it interesting that that is the best offer that they got considering the assets that they were willing to trade away for de jeon Marie when they got him from San Antonio and as I said I think it’s it helps us understand a little bit better where exactly the Trey young Market might be I’m very interested to see where Atlanta goes from here if they continue to sell off pieces and this is like a mini rebuild round try where they trade away bogdanovich capella some of the veterans and then they build around some of these younger guys like Daniels like re sh like maybe they keep DeAndre Hunter whatever the case may be they traded away AJ Griffin clearly they’re trying to change up this roster in a significant way and this particular deal to me says two things one they split up the back court and two they want to go younger they want to add some assets and that definitely brings into question Trey Young’s future in Atlanta as well as some of these other veterans that could possibly be on the move that they could get some pieces for if they trade away some of those veterans and they keep try I don’t really understand what the plan is there so we’re definitely keeping an eye on potentially more moves from Atlanta this offseason for New Orleans I really like the deal I don’t think they gave up a ton certainly in terms of their rotation Dyson Daniels wasn’t really going to play that much for them this year uh even if you project a little bit more improvement from him he just hasn’t really been able to find that consistent spot in the rotation he’s been passed up by guys that they’ve even drafted after him as well and the two picks like I said they’re probably not going to be overwhelmingly valuable and these kinds of deals are exactly what you should be using those picks for if you’re in the position that New Orleans is in because what are they going to do with a couple other picks outside of the top 15 they’ve already got a ton of depth they’ve already got a ton of guys and bringing in Murray is a nice compliment in the back court alongside CJ McCollum as of right now CJ McCollum is going to continue to be on the Pelicans he’s under contract for the next couple of Seasons as is of course Murray is that new extension kicks in for him and when they traded for CJ they wanted backourt creation but at this point in his career he’s not able to provide enough backc Court creation for them just on his own and they desperately needed a Creator and Murray fits in really well with his length his defensive ability that completely disappeared in Atlanta and hopefully we’ll return to form uh now with him there in New Orleans and and that kind of group that core there of Zion herb Jones Trey Murphy and then the back wart of CJ McCollum and de Jon Murray is very intriguing to me of course it brings up the question of what exactly is going to happen with Brandon Ingram who’s got one year left on his contract there’s been rumors everywhere about him possibly getting moved somewhere uh maybe they can recoup some of these assets by trading him away for New Orleans I’m going to give this like a a B+ grade it certainly is going to bring in a question to jonay Murray’s off ball spacing and three-point shooting ability which has been a question for him throughout his career both in San Antonio and in Atlanta how well does he work around other players how well does he work around someone like Zion with a team in New Orleans that has struggled with spacing a little bit over the past couple of seasons and CJ obviously can space off the ball but is it going to be a little bit too much on ball to Jon Murray is that going to take away a little bit from Zion and is he going to be a little bit in the way when he’s off the ball if he can lock in and be the defensive guy that he was in San Antonio I love the deal for them but since that’s a little bit TBD I’m going to give New Orleans a B+ grade here for Jon Murray for Atlanta I’m going to give them a b grade and really it’s just more so the mindset than anything else it’s just I I I like the idea of them getting assets splitting up the backo it’s a move that needed to be made if they went into the year this year with de Murray and try Young and the same team still it just would have been really awkward it would have been uncomfortable and I don’t really think I would have understood what the the direction of the franchise was supposed to be I think given the way that this draft set up for them where they get the first overall pick and a very weak draft had this draft been better maybe things would have been different maybe they would have continued to trade away a lot more of these pieces but right now it seems like they’re going to continue to build around Trey and I’m going to give them a B for the for the trade just because I feel like they could have gotten a little bit more value from some of these other more desperate contenders or semi contenders around the league but ultimately it’s still pretty solid but my favorite part about the deal is that there are still question marks for each of these teams as we move in to the season we still don’t know what either of these rosters are going to look like we have the Brandon Ingram question we have the Trey young question and it’s it’s interesting to have this kind of a deal where it’s clear what each team is trying to do but then there’s so many question marks after it that you don’t exactly know the true Direction the other thing that’s weird about this deal is that I’m surprised New Orleans didn’t find a way to get someone like Clint capella or something in this deal because they’re still looking for a fiveman Jonas valunas more than likely is going to end up hitting fore agency they just traded away Larry n so in the front court at least specifically at the Five Spot they definitely are leaving themselves without an option there and maybe that gets solved by the Brandon Ingram trade because the Ingram situation compared to Zion is very similar to what the backward situation was in Atlanta between Deonte and Trey where just like there’s just better options for the franchise moving forward I’ve said this before if you are New Orleans Trey Murphy herb Jones and Zion all three of those guys need to start at least that’s what I’ve said in the past obviously that’s going to be impossible unless you’re playing Zion at the five now like one of those guys is going to have to come off the bench because you know CJ and Jon Murray are going to start but it’s a little bit of a similar situation with the Ingram thing and I wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way to move him for a for a big man or maybe for a couple of different spots in terms of their depth but I like the direction that New Orleans is going in here it didn’t make any sense to hold on to the these picks they have enough young talent and they needed certainly more backourt creation maybe a little bit more veteran presence and Murray’s still you know a pretty young guy and defensively I think fits in pretty well with their structure as well because they’ve got all these wings but they didn’t necessarily have a backourt uh Defender for some of the quicker players around the league and Murray can certainly be that guy again just like in Atlanta though my only question mark is the off off ball shooting that’s always been an issue for Murray uh but I I really really like the deal for New Orleans depending on what the future fit of the roster is and and honestly for Atlanta I hope we get more trades from them I hope they continue to get rid of some guys cuz whether it’s around Trey young or otherwise it’s probably time to reset

DeJounte Murray has been traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, and 2 1st round picks.

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