JUNE 30: The trade is official, the Hawks announced in a press release.
“The opportunity to acquire a player of Dejounte’s caliber, just entering his prime, doesn’t come along too often,” Hawks president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “He has developed into one of the elite two-way guards in the league and we’re thrilled to add him to our group.”
In addition to the pieces detailed below, Atlanta also acquired big man Jock Landale from San Antonio. As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype tweets, in order to complete the trade before the new league year began, the Spurs needed to add a little more salary to match Gallinari’s $21.45MM incoming figure, even though it’s not fully guaranteed.
According to Kirschner (Twitter link), it’s not clear yet whether the Hawks plan to keep Landale, whose minimum-salary contract for 2022/23 isn’t fully guaranteed.
JUNE 29: The Spurs have reached an agreement to trade guard Dejounte Murray to the Hawks for a package that includes Danilo Gallinari and multiple first-round picks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). San Antonio will receive three first-rounders and a draft swap, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to Wojnarowski and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter links), the three picks going to the Spurs will be Charlotte’s 2023 first-rounder (top-16 protected) and the Hawks’ own 2025 and 2027 first-rounders. San Antonio will also have the right to swap first-round selections with Atlanta in 2026.
Those 2025 and 2027 picks – along with the 2026 swap – will be unprotected, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic.
Marc Stein first reported (via Twitter) that momentum was building toward a Murray trade, noting that the Knicks and Timberwolves were also among the guard’s known suitors. Atlanta has been the team most frequently linked to Murray though, having reportedly explored deals for him dating back to February’s trade deadline.
The deal represents a major backcourt upgrade for the Hawks, who will add an All-Star – and one of the league’s best perimeter defenders – to complement All-NBA guard Trae Young without giving up any players from their projected 2022/23 roster.
It’s not clear if trade candidate John Collins will still be in Atlanta when the ’22/23 season begins, but he’s not part of this deal after having being included in earlier Murray-related rumors.
Murray enjoyed a breakout season in 2021/22, averaging 21.1 PPG, 9.2 APG, 8.3 RPG, and a league-leading 2.0 SPG with a shooting line of .462/.327/.794 in 68 games (34.8 MPG). The 25-year-old was the runner-up for the Most Improved Player award.
Murray’s ability and versatility on defense make him an ideal backcourt partner for Young, who is said to be “ecstatic” about the move, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Murray is under contract for the next two seasons and is owed just over $34MM during that time.
The Spurs’ motives for making the deal are a little less obvious than the Hawks’, since it’s not as if Murray was on an entirely different timeline than the team’s young core, but perhaps he wasn’t part of the club’s plans beyond his current contract. San Antonio’s decision to accept a package heavy on distant draft picks rather than current players signals that short-term contention probably isn’t in the cards as the front office looks toward the future.
The Hornets’ 2023 pick will be lottery-protected in 2024 and 2025 if it doesn’t convey next year, then would turn into two second-round picks if it hasn’t conveyed by that point. The Hawks’ own picks – and the 2026 swap – could be more significantly more valuable, especially if the team takes a downturn within the next few years.
Gallinari’s $21.45MM salary had only been partially guaranteed for $5MM and was set to become fully guaranteed if he remained under contract through today.
The veteran forward probably isn’t in the Spurs’ plans at that full $21.45MM figure, so the most likely outcome is that he’ll have his partial guarantee increased by another $6MM-ish in order to legally match Murray’s salary, then will be waived. Gallinari may agree to push back his salary guarantee date in order to give the teams time to complete the trade and ensure that he receives that extra money, though that’s just my speculation at this point.
Why the Spurs trade him? Bad move…
Accelerate the rebuild and attempt to tank for pop’s new generational big man
They’re trading him when his value is at its peak. They have no illusions of competing this coming season or the next. They drafted his replacement in Primo last summer. They want the best possible odds at drafting Wembanyama which obv means losing alot of games. They’re getting a lot of draft capital in return for a kid they got late in the 1st rd & haven’t even paid that much $ in comparison to the production he’s given them
Crazy trade, how good does it make ATL? Scary back court possibly
Pretty logical for both sides. I love Murray and will miss him but 4 first rounders plus they drafted a couple more guards. Makes sense. Murray isn’t leading this team to a championship. He can help trae compete though.
3 1st rdrs
Great trade for the Hawks. Awful for the Spurs.
East is weak
The team traded so many future Firsts away
Bucks all
76ers all
Heat most
Hawks most
Nets
The picks are what motivates the Spurs.. Unless the Hawks have an injury plagued squad in 2025 or 2027
where the picks are unprotected and they could add all the picks together and not equal a Dejounte Murray… I too am having a hard time making sense of this trade.
dejounte had one amazing season and a bunch of seasons where he looked like a backup.
however a bunch of late 1sts are worthless too
Let’s mf get it #DeJohnTrae
Nice trade for your Hawks man. They were missing something. That might have been it.
Yea the team definitely just got alot better. This feels similar to the Joe Johnson s&t from Phoenix in 05 & the Mutombo signing before the Olympics. What I love the most is the fact that Dejounte clearly wanted to be here. A kid from Seattle that badly wants to play for the Hawks. That doesn’t happen. Trae is the reason for this change & Schlenk is the reason for Trae. I give em both huge credit. It’s much different from when another Seattle kid (Jason Terry) was ready to leave as soon as his rookie contract was up
Congrats, thumbs up, definitely something to be excited about. Add an All-Star to the lineup without much subtraction. Geared for a good playoff run this time. Go Hawks !!
Seems like a bad fit for the Hawks, both Trae and Murray thrive when they are controlling the ball. Odd move and ATL gave up A LOT to get him.
thrive? Trae young is not a traditional point guard he stop passing the ball to John collins reason why he wanna leave he always go for a logo 3 soon as he get to half court he better off playin as the 2 wit a bigger gaurd
Just because they have been ball-dominant guards doesn’t mean they can’t play together. Trae is more than a good enough shooter to play off the ball and this will take some of the playmaking load off of him, while Murray is smart and good enough to play off the ball as a slasher.
Trae is not used to playing off the ball at all, though, so it remains to be seen whether he can do it. I think he can, but time will tell.
Agree that he’s not, but he also hasn’t been paired with a player like Murray. There’s a lot of potential here with Trae playing off ball like Steph Curry. Not saying Trae-Dejounte are Steph-Draymond, but you can have two players who are both elite at running an offense and creating for their team.
Being a shooter off ball is WAY different than being a shooter with the ball. Whole different skill set. Trae’s got some serious work in front of him.
@Seam
Hi IQ, great conditioning and effort. That’s really all it takes. So many players are lazy today. Dribble, dribble step back and 3 pt attempt.
I hated him as a Knicks fan but Reggie Miller played a beautiful game.
You bring up a good point in the difference between the two types of shooters. Murray is being brought in to take the scoring 20+ ppg stress off Trae and let him handle the ball and facilitate. Murray is a catch and shoot 3pt shooter… splashing and slashing Atlanta will be tough to beat next season.
Murray is a catch and shoot player since when? dude averages just over 4 3pt attempts per game. Slashing yes, catch and shoot… not even close
Murray and Young going to be great together. Good deal for both teams. Spurs just looking to TANK
Nice knicks. Now I’m passed. If all we get is Brunson I am done with this team. Not sure how knicks package wasn’t better then this garbage. Didn’t get 1 young player just picks that won’t even be high with hawks a playoff team. Spurs done for the next 10 years and knicks now suck rat turd
Robinson is resigning…..
I mean whats the Knicks’ hypothetical offer? We’re assuming the Knicks were willing to offer three firsts and a pick swap. I’m going to assume the Knicks weren’t offering three first round picks and a pick swap. If there are any protections on those picks play a difference too.
The only valuable player on the Knicks is RJ Barrett and there is a little risk there since he’ll need a new contract within a year. Outside of that, there isn’t any player who people outside of the Knicks think is a star. Quickley, Grimes, Toppin all look like role players rather than stars. Randle has no actual value…he might be marginally better than Gallinari but his four year extension is just starting while Gallinari’s deal expires after this season. Robinson is a FA. So what are you offering?
Knicks have their own 1st next year as well as Dallas’s from the KP trade. They also just acquired three 1sts a few days ago, though they’re protected and likely will end up as 15-25 overall in 204-2026-ish.
They also have their own 1st in 2024, 2025, etc. They definitely could have topped this offer picks-wise at least, but chose not to apparently.
Knicks should’ve traded every #1 they acquired plus two of their own and send Fournier off to San Antonio for Murray. 6 #1s and a bad contract for Murray – yeah, I’d do it. No need for Brunson and cap room still available.
BC Thibs loves to play & developp late 1st rookies …
As a spurs fan my heart breaks at this news, even as I understand why they did it. Ugh!
It’s been real DJ, you made us proud.
On one hand, three first round picks (if they are unprotected) is good value for Murray. On the other, San Antonio is kicking the can FAR down the road and I feel bad for Pop. The Spurs have arguably the worst roster in the league now.
Unprotected or not those picks are gonna be in the 20s. Charlotte pick could be late teens, it’s definitely protected tho, top16 next yr & top14 the yr after
@trog
Bad for him? You really think that doesn’t get ok’d without his approval?
Pops runs the Spur regardless of Buford having the title of GM.
This move has Popovich written all over it. Accurately assess you have no path to contention in the next 3 years. Cash in your 25 year old All Star PG before you have to pay him.
SAS also got a pretty sweet top 1 protected Boston pick in Feb for White. They’re quietly amassing a nice hoard of future picks. And with this roster, to your point, they’ll probably be picking top 5 next June.
Why would a 73-yo care about future picks? Unless theyre for flipping.
So what do you do then, trade 7 firsts for LBJ and another 5 for Kyrie and “try” to take on the west?
Pop is a SAS lifer, he knows what the deal is, if he’s sticking around for 5 or 6 more years this is his ONLY way of getting back to title contention.
Few other guys are probably gone soon too to stack more picks and young players
No, Irving and Durant. And yes, added to what the Spurs have, could take on the NBA. That’s a goal more worthy than waiting out future 20-yos.
Hell yeah
Fantastic deal for Hawks. They get rid of Gallo and get a running backcourt mate with Trae. I don’t see those picks being quite as valuable as Murray will be, especially if ATL plays like it did in last year’s playoffs. Now maybe do a S&T for Ayton? That would be a great young trio.
I agree with everything you said but we already got a great young trio #DeJohnTrae
John Collins is a nice PIECE, but I don’t think he’s a top 20 player. No doubt Trae is a top 20 player along with Murray. I just think they should package Capella and Huerter for Ayton.
Trae
Murray
Hunter
PJ Tucker (perhaps?)
Ayton
That would be insane along with Bogy off the bench?
Sorry I went stupid. I meant Collins and Capella and keep Huerter? Lol my bad.
I was going to comment that Murray isn’t top 20 … then I glanced at his stats from last year. He might be!
This is a smart move for the Spurs to start amassing future assets (including their own pick from being terrible this season).
But it also makes a ton of sense for ATL. Trae isn’t the easiest player to pair w/ because of his defense – well, Murray is about as good of match as there is. He’ll supply defense and shot creation.
I’d look to for this team to give some run to small lineups featuring Trae-DJM-Hunter-Collins and either Bogdan or Huerter.
We have arguably the best pair of 5s in the league with Clint & Onyeka. I’d def want 1 of those guys on the court at all times unless we’re down 20 in the 4th & need 3s to bring us back
Good deal for both sides.
Spurs don’t won’t to have to extend Murray with a max deal in a couple years so decided to cash in now for picks. They will have loads of cap space for the next 3 years, loads of picks and young players. Not saying it’s the right decision but it’s been made and they got a good return.
Hawks it’s a good deal also, Gallo’s time was up basically and you’d rather lose him than Collins. Murray will be a huge addition at both ends of the floor and should make the players around him better. But 3 firsts and a pick swap is a lot to give up. They needed to get in another star player but was this the correct guy at that price?
Overall I’d rate the deal:
Spurs: B+
Hawks: B+
Agreed. Lowe was talking about the ATL question in his pod as well. You have one shot to package picks for an upgrade, etc
If I was an ATL fan I’d much prefer to pair Murray with Trae than with Brunson or LaVine or Beal. And the fact I didn’t have to give up Collins is icing on the cake.
Having said that, does this roster seem like a contender as is? Gut says probably not.
But Trae is still young. Murray is as well. I think there’s enough upside to make the case that this was the best move available to the Hawks short of Durant requesting a trade to Georgia.
Murray’s shooting is subpar, he could become Russell Westbrook 2.0. Good move by the Spurs to rebuild. The fit with Young will be “interesting” so good luck to Coach McMillan.
If he becomes a HOFer like Russ this will be the 2nd best trade in Hawks history. Getting Nique from Utah will always be 1
Shooting over 50% inside the 3 and dropping over 20ppg isn’t subpar. Add in his 8 assists/9 boards per game along with his first team defense and I’d say Atlanta got a steal in this deal. Dropping Dino and that salary on top of it was pure magic. Those picks won’t mean as much if the they’re are at the end of the draft each time.
That’s while he was the no-doubt best offensive player on his team. He’s definitely not anymore.
Heck, he won’t need too. That’s what’s going to make him more dangerous – can always kick it back out.
Twin tower experiments have failed in the past, just wondering if two high assist PGs can co-exist at the same time on the floor as well.
All of his shooting efficiency numbers are below league average. Shooting 52% is below average shooting if the league average is 55%.
Don’t disagree in a sense, but if the Hawks become and stay good we’re talking about three late-firsts for Murray. That’s bad for a guy at a well-below market rate.
When Westbrook is shooting poorly, he’s rubbish. When DJ is shooting poorly, he’s still an elite defender – something Westbrook never was and never will be.
The fact that we get to keep our 1st rd picks for next summer AND 2024 lol this is a borderline fleece & Schlenk has a Secretariat sized lead on GMOY here not even a day into the new nba yr
Relax, you don’t win titles in FA. Everyone knows that. You still need to build chemistry, good habits, and have injury luck on your side. That being said. ATL is capitalizing on Trae’s age is crucial. Same thing can’t be said about Dallas with Luka. Christian Wood doesn’t push them over GSW. They need a game changing type talent to play next to Luka, in order for them to get to the next level.
Hawks will never get too far with Trae playing 35 mins a night. Just too easy to take advantage of defensively in the playoffs.
It’s not as easy now with Hunter and Murray in the fold
Spurs emotional. Make harsh deal like breakup with girlfriend.
Lakers benefit from deal, trade Westbrook to Hawks for Collins.
Lakers open $500M in cap.
Hawks pay $115 in lux tax.
Collins new PG for Lakers. Better guard on Curry.
Hawks buyout Westbrook for $128M and trade next 10 years of draft picks for the rights to Moses Malone.
Sorry…couldn’t resist.
Love it !!
Is that you Sillivan?
Took me a second to get the joke LMAO!
I hated to see this for the Spurs. Dejounte Murray was the best, the opposite of Kawhi Leonard.
Spurs fans are hoping that the team knows what they are doing..
Congrats to Will Hardy, new head coach of the Jazz!
Let’s see what happens for both these teams.
Collins to Mavs for Bertans and Bullock
Use mid level on Kyle Anderson
You should Only trade First Rounds for a piece to a Championship ready team or for a Star that can make you a Championship ready team. Trading 3 1st rounders for a middling player is a sign of a mediocre franchise.
It’s a good thing the Hawks took that advice and traded for a star. They’re not championship ready yet but we’ll have to wait and see what they do with Collins.
Dejounte Murray is a middling player? By what standard?
i think he meant Murray is in the middle of the 10th and 30th best players in the league
It’s all about Victor Wembanyama.
The SPURS just the first team to signify their tank, other teams will start their tank the first game of the season.
Indiana, OKC, Detroit & Houston made it clear they were tanking either by the draft or well before it
Detroit will probably be better than they’d like due to Cade, and Carlisle and Halliburton will will Indiana to Mediocrity.
It’s a race between OKC, SAS, and Houston for #1
How are they going to get bad enough though? They have too many useful versatile pieces…
Good deal for ATL. Had to fix the perimeter defense, and this, along with a healthy Hunter, gives them a good shot at doing it.
I guess SAS wants to tank, and doesn’t really care how obvious it is. Of course, Silver (no matter how obvious) will refuse to see it or acknowledge it if he does. Still, it’s bad for the league, which can’t be healthy when a quarter of its teams are giving up on seasons before they even start.
There should’ve been far more teams in on Murrary. Knicks couldn’t have put up a competitive offer?
Of course they could, but wisely didn’t. Very few teams would give up this kind of a package, with potentially losing 3 consecutive lottery picks 3-5 years out. I understand the middle year is a swap, but it’s with like effect if a team goes through a downturn. SAS was apparently focused on getting precisely this package, not some alternative.
Knicks could’ve given the Spurs 4 first rounders and still had a draft pick every year going forward, plus I find it hard to believe SA would’ve preferred taking Gallo over someone like Reddish or even Rose if necessary. I thought the biggest obstacle would’ve been adding a good young piece but the Spurs didn’t even get that.
Seems to me there’s a specific reason the trigger wasn’t pulled on a Knicks-Spurs trade that we’re not aware of.
The nature of Murray is little-known, at least by me, and nobody else is jumping in to say. I can read his stats, but his influence? Im not hearing wailing from Spur fans.
He does not seem an organizer at the 1,
And he does not shoot that well as a 2.
He may tire of teammates not working on D.
SAS had/has no interest in the ATL player (Gallo was salary filler) and would have had very little in a NYK player (yes, we could have sent a young player or a Burks/Noel, etc., I don’t think SAS would care).
SAS was interested in unprotected 1st round picks. Knicks weren’t willing to give the 3 unprotected picks in that 3 year period (2025, 2026-swap and 2027). If they were, Murray would be a Knick. Knicks recent history makes their picks more valuable than ATL’s if both are unprotected. There would have been no need to up the ante any further.
Whatever makes you feel better.
I’ve logged my reservations about Brunson, but I’m not sure blowing all of our future picks on Murray is the wiser move.
Murray is the superior player (I think) but he’ll also eat up our cap as soon as his (inevitable) extension kicks in. I think I’d rather keep my powder dry for the time being.
Great trade for the Hawks. Can’t believe the Knicks couldn’t out do that. They only gave up El Gallo. Very nice.
This can be best backcourt in NBA.
For Spurs it’s all about #1 pick next yr. Next yrs draft is suppose to be a deep one.
This will blow up in the face of San Antonio. These kinds of cynical moves for the number one often leave you getting number 5 or 6 in the draft. Murray is a star on the rise and wanted to stay. No free agent of quality wants to go there. Pop is way past his time and should’ve already retired.
I feel that we’re going to learn over the next few weeks/months that Murray had expressed an interest in being moved.
Spurs franchise going down the tubes. Just close business and file bankruptcy at this point
Pops did not seem to like Tony Parker either, so maybe he has a PG issue.
More likely, he did not see Murray as a driving force to break through and win a championship, so not worth a max. Not sure I see it either, even as the young group gains experience and improves gradually.
Less likely, Spurs are picking up firsts to offer The Nets to get Kyrie Irving, who can break through, and who has worn the patience of Joe Tsai there. They can afford Durant too.
Or they wait a year to get Irving UFA, selling Murray at his peak value now, and the firsts are for Durant.
That’s the same stupid from yesterday. At least come up with some new stupid take for today!
And you said the same thing after it, then I said how blind that was in so many words. I may do it again tomorrow.
Usually, if I type “stupid”, I translate it, because using the word is so self-declaring. It’s a reaction, not a thought. It means you stopped thinking about something, which leaves you suddely ignorant, feeling as if in a knowledge gap… All to serve favorite unspoken stereotypes probably.
Who knows in choud’s case. Only a semi-mute reaction is provided. In two tries, no reason is given.
I see what the Spurs did here, but totally disagree on how much sense it actually makes, especially with the way their roster was about to start to look. I do hope to see more of Tre Jones though. He has a really high basketball IQ and plays good defense himself, but obviously is a totally different type of player than the dynamic Murray who is elite defensively, and does most everything on the floor, and has improved his shooting, which would look better around their current spacing situation. I think they should have got at least another asset, or a couple of better assets, but Gallinari further improves an area they’ve needed for a while, even though they kind of addressed that already, and we’ll see Tre Jones, and probably Josh Primo will get opportunities. I also imagine Richardson and Langford will get looks at guard as well.. .they have a lot of guards right now, some of which with redundancies, so I expect them to try to move Lonnie Walker. They have assets now too, so maybe they have more to do
For Atlanta, they have up assets, but this makes them significantly better. He gives them a lot of what they had with Delon Wright, but with more dynamism, and moving Gallinari should allow for a bigger role for John Collins. They also have AJ Griffin, DeAndre Hunter to give them shooting in minutes at the 4, and Jalen Johnson at the 4/5 for defense/playmaking. Probably 1 of the best possible outcomes in such a high profile deal for Atlanta. If they can add another wing shooter/defender, that would give them a significant chance if they stay healthy, and put together their rotations the way the team is built for. I could also still see 1 of Capela or Okongwu getting moved after this, but we’ll see…
…Also, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now; Trae Young has improved more as a basketball player in the NBA from the time he was drafted than anyone I’ve ever seen improve at anything in my entire life. For that, he has my respect, even though I think he benefits from officiating at times. I also usually appreciate certain irrational confidence from players, but I also think he tries way too hard to be a heel, and would like to see him just be more consistently focused. Not suggesting he should stop having fun; I just think I would like to see him try to do more things without the ball, and on defense, than complaining to officials or celebrating. I think Murray can be a really good start for him learning to play off the ball, the way I thought Delon Wright would help in that area, and I think that makes him, and them, a lot more dangerous if he improves there
He was good right away, and has not taken things much further. Sometimes, sometimes not.
Hate that SAS did this, think they could’ve gotten at least a little more if this was the path they were hell bent on. Assume Poeltl is next to go. SAS should be giving the home game tickets away for free. They won’t be relevant for a while with the late 1st they are getting in return. Should’ve gotten at least one good young player back. If they go off and they still aren’t where they want to be, they could then flip that young player for more assets later.
SAS just gave away Murray for absolutely nothing!
I can’t understand why they have done this trade!
IMO Murray should have been in the first All-NBA team with Luka instead of D-Book… you can’t trade a young top guard for nothing!!!
I’m glad to see that the Hawks are actually trying to be better instead of teams that keep shamelessly tanking such as the Thunder.