The Spurs are among the teams with a “level of exploratory interest” in Hawks guard Dejounte Murray, Shams Charania of The Athletic stated on FanDuel TV (Twitter video link via Noah Magaro-George of The Vic-And-Roll).
The 29th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Murray spent his first six NBA seasons in San Antonio before being traded to Atlanta during the 2022 offseason, so the Spurs are obviously very familiar with him as a person and a player. And multiple reports have suggested that the Hawks are open to inquiries on the 2022 All-Star.
The Spurs are also on the hunt for an answer at point guard to pair with No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama. The team appears to view last season’s starter Tre Jones as a better fit as a long-term backup and has tried youngsters like Jeremy Sochan and Malaki Branham in the point guard role so far this season, with mixed results.
Still, within his own report, Charania seemingly downplays the likelihood of San Antonio making a move to reacquire Murray. The 5-30 Spurs are still in the early stages of their rebuilding process and while they have a plethora of draft assets, they presumably won’t be eager to give up several of those picks to acquire a veteran who’s already in his prime.
“I think they’re going to take a very patient approach in their building process,” Charania said. “There’s not a real level of urgency, of going out there immediately. They’re going to be patient. They’re going to pick and choose their spots, whether that’s this season, in the summer, next season. There’s not a real urgency, but they have a runway to make things happen potentially if they want to.”
In the event that Atlanta and San Antonio do discuss a Murray deal, the Hawks would likely be motivated to reacquire their 2025 and 2027 first-rounders, which they gave up when they initially traded for the standout guard.
Getting those picks back would give Atlanta more flexibility in future trades (due to the Stepien Rule) and would put the Hawks in a better position to take a step back in their own building process if necessary, since they wouldn’t have to worry about potentially shipping a lottery pick to the Spurs.
Now this would be an excellent move. Curious to see how they can pull it off.
It would be an excellent move to give back the two numbers ones they got when the Hawks grossly overpaid for Dejounte in the first place? There is zero chance that happens
It would be, Al. Very logical, and would undo the trade that many San Antonio fans never wanted.
One can only wonder about DJM, how he feels about this rumor. More importantly, how would he handle going back to San Antonio after his little bit of social media grumbling didn’t endear him to the fans?
Hopefully, all would be forgiven on both sides, and everyone would push forward as professionals trying to get wins. San Antonio needs a few! :(
It won’t happen and this story is exactly what it is…a story. He just didn’t like the city and said he would not sign a long term deal with the team. He’s be perfect in the backcourt with Vassell, and honestly the Spurs would probably be just one player away from being a contender if that did happen – some of those starters would be better positioned to come off the bench.
I agree it won’t happen, but none of that is true. He was making noises that he would seek max money (which he didn’t get) because he was an “all star”, but Spurs knew he wasn’t a cornerstone piece and had no interest in paying him that money. They got two number 1’s that could well become lottery picks as the Hawks rebuild so it was a brilliant trade. Hawks now realizing the DJ is a decent player but is not a true PG or a 2 and he doesn’t fit.
Spurs would improve if they got him, but they have no interest in incremental improvement this year.
If trade never happened you may never have gotten #1 pick
I think he’s a good fit with Wemby. Plus as a young vet he would speed up the rebuild there. Winning cures all woes imo. Seems all Murray wants it to win ……
Why did Murray leave Spurs?
Murray went on to say that ultimately it came down to whether or not he wanted to stay with the Spurs as they were set on going into a full rebuild and seeing his best NBA years be wasted.Feb 2, 2023
https://www.kens5.com › sports › nba
Dejounte Murray expands on trade from Spurs to Hawks – KENS 5
Only a rumor now though ……
A return to where it all started? Maybe if the spurs were better.
The reason to do it ..is ..to get better ..
So with Dejonte back in the fold that spurs are conference finals bound?
Did anyone say that?
Did I indicate that you said that??
They’d be closer.
They would be closer. Got good young talent no PG.
Don’t think we’ll see 3 firsts and a swap again but I could see something like Sochan Branham filler guy like McDermott and maybe 2 firsts whether protected to some degree
Sochan has more potential than most first round picks. If they do trade for Murray I’d rather give up picks.
Sochan is Bruce Bowen 2.0 that can dribble but not shoot as well from the perimeter.
It’d be an interesting move as he would be well aware of how things work in San Antonio and therefore would be able to adjust quicker…
But the Spurs need more young talent with very high upsides to pair with Wemby… And they certainly don’t need to rush the process of getting there by adding veteran win now help this season…
They need someone that can grow with Wembanyama. The reasons they traded him in the first place is so he could play on a competitive team and so they could get picks to help with the rebuild. Him playing on a competitive team part is working out but he too old to pair with Wemby.
They traded him because he refused to negotiate and sign an extension.
I agree with both of you, I think bringing Murray back is a great idea.
His age (27) isn’t as prohibitive as media folks like to mention. He’s on a very reasonable contract that doesn’t hit $30M+ until 2027-28 which at that point will likely be 15% of the salary cap.
The Spurs need a younger veteran with some winning experience, and a Wemby + Murray inside/outside defensive combo would be a nightmare for the league as a whole.
How does this sound?
Malaki Branham, Doug McDermott, and the two Hawks picks for Dejounte Murray?
Doug McDermott being used as salary filler and the Hawks will get a young two guard in Malaki Branham
Hard pass. Vassell or Keldon Johnson would have to be involved for their to be a conversation
They’d give up Kelvin not Vassel. Hawks only gave up Gallo. Who they didn’t want anyway.
Atl can reshuffle the deck chairs as much as they like but the one constant that holds true is trae is not a winning player
I’d be looking to address that issue first before anything else
Honestly, I thought that was why they acquired DjMurray in the first place.
To make Trae expendable.
Live and Learn.
Trae is expendable…
Just has zero trade value with Murray on the Hawks… As teams want Murray even if it costs them more assets to acquire…
I wouldn’t say he is not a winning player, but he is difficult to build around. Murray is much more of a team fit than Trae and I wish the Hawks would find a way to keep Murray and move Trae.
It won’t happen because .. well .. if there is one thing the Hawks do well, it’s make me sad.
Kind of reminds me of Ben Simmons in that you have to have a very specific team build around him order to make everything work, and it isn’t easy finding elite players available who will fit the needed profile. So you make moves for the Dejounte Murrays of the world despite the obvious poor fit and reap the subpar results.
Also, he’s just overrated. Not as good of a shooter as he thinks he is and some of the shots he takes late in games are embarrassingly bad. With that kind of leadership you won’t get far.
With that all said, I think Synder is a big part of the problem. Arguably the most overrated coach in the league now with many of the classic faults: unimaginative offense, stubborn decision-making, questionable rotations, etc.
ATL should relish the chance to deal him back to SAS, if they can get back even most of the package they sent out, namely the part that consists of two ATL unprotected FRPs and the ATL-SAS FRP swap in between. It allows ATL to rebuild, or just retool, knowing they have the backstop of higher lottery pick if takes more time than expected. I’m skeptical that Murray has enough value to command that, but we’ll see.
SAS can and should do this as well, if only for the development of their young players. Right now, that’s a mess. SAS has already tanked enough this year to ensure a good to better lottery pick. Murray knows the system and should be able to get back to his old self once he’s back on the point.
The rebuild should start with moving Trae. Otherwise, it is doomed to be a half hearted attempt that would fail. Just moving Trae would probably increase their win total. You can’t keep giving up 120+ points and expect to win many. That all starts with Trae.
Agreed. But, if reports are correct, it won’t. IDK why the FO is so wedded to TY, or appears to be.
Spurs would be smart to get a real point guard and upgrade he perimeter defence.
Wonder if they’d grab Hunter aswell.
Murray and Hunter for Johnson, Jones, Osman and a first
Murray Vassell Hunter Collins Wemby
Branham Sochan etc
Lol hard pass. Take Dejounte out of that offer & there could be a conversation about Dre for Keldon, Tre & a pick
lol
Hell no to giving back those picks, not with Flagg and Boozer coming up. Spurs would be dumb to do so. Spurs own protected picks from Chicago, Toronto, and Charlotte, which they should use first.
Then they can trade for Derrick White then K Leonard. Patty Mills is on the Hawks. Danny Green is a free agent as well. SMH. keep rebuilding Spurs. They just need to draft well next year and they will be all set.
Gordon Hayward, Brandon Miller, ish Smith and Bryce McGowens for Keldon Johnson, Devonte Graham, Vassel and Zach Collins with 2nds. Waive Duke and sign Jazian Gortmen or another PG. Gets rid of Vassel and Zach Collins next years horrible contracts, waive Hayward and Bassey, then draft a SG and PG in the draft. Need to keep building not go backwards
If they trade any 1st then this will be a huge mistake for the Spurs. Don’t rush a rebuild. Give it one more off season, draft well then compete. Let’s ask Tim Duncan to play a couple games or beg Leonard to come back. Please Manu. This is a silly take and you all are jumping all over it like flees. Murray should go to the 76s, Lakers, pelicans, Suns, jazz or Washington to play PG.
Whoever they’re trade partners with, Branham will be in the trade
If the Spurs can fleece them again, sure. They aren’t getting back the package they have up first time though.
The spurs have been rebuilding for 5 years. Is that still early in the process? The Rockets were ripped for taking 3 years to rebuild but the spurs get a pass? They got a generational talent and have only won 5 games so far this season, at what point do they start to get criticism for being terrible
Spoken like someone who isn’t a Spurs fan and has no idea what’s been going on the last 5 years, nor apparently what happened this past offseason with the two major contracts the rockets signed vs zero for the Spurs.
SA seems like a logical destination for Cade Cunningham. The Pistons’ owner and their coach are committed to killing everything in Detroit so that the two of them can rebuild it So trade Cade for 2 unprotected firsts and a pick swap or 2. The Spurs would be dumb to say no.
He would nice with Wemby. I was thinking Detroit should get more picks in build through next year’s draft, Sarr, Collier, Holland, Tyon Grant-Foster and others. Good idea. I like Cade with Wemby idea, Cade, Vassel,?, Sochan and Wemby. Trade Johnson somewhere
Do not buy this at all, especially coming from Shams. Blowing valuable assets on an older player (relative to the core) who hasn’t proven to impact winning positively enough and that has some insecurity and ego issues would be foolish. I’d rather remain patient and see who else might become available.