Dejounte Murray Trade: New Orleans Pelicans,Injury update,Age

The Atlanta Hawks are trading All-Star guard Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Today we will discuss about Dejounte Murray Trade: New Orleans Pelicans,Injury update,Age.

Dejounte Murray Trade: New Orleans Pelicans,Injury update,Age

The Atlanta Hawks have traded guard Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 27-year-old Murray averaged 22.5 points, 6.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game for the Hawks in his eighth NBA season (second in Atlanta).

The 2021-2022 NBA All-Star landed with the Hawks after six seasons on the San Antonio Spurs. Atlanta specifically offered three first-round picks (2023, 2025, 2027) and a 2026 pick swap. The team was apparently moving to a new backcourt partnership between Murray and a more offensive player, point guard Trae Young.

Unfortunately, the team could not progress under the leadership of these two. Atlanta went 41–41 in 2022–23 and lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Things got a bit rough last season, resulting in a 36-46 record and a loss in the immediate play-in tournament.

There was no shortage of trade rumors last year and in the offseason involving both Murray and Young and the Hawks were unable to achieve a winning season.

Finally, Murray is out of town despite signing a four-year, $114.1 million extension (including a 2027-28 player option) through the 2023 offseason.

Murray joined a Pelicans team led by Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum. Brandon Ingram, who has been repeatedly linked with a trade out of New Orleans, may see his days with the team come to an end in the wake of the trade.

Wojnarowski said the Pelicans view Murray as a player who can “generate aggression late in games” and the team is committed to Williamson and McCollum, though they are still trying to “find common ground” with Ingram’s contract. trying.

Despite winning 49 games during the 2023–24 season, New Orleans were defeated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs as Williamson was unavailable due to a left hamstring strain.

New Orleans Pelicans

The Atlanta Hawks are trading All-Star guard Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

In return, the Pelicans are reportedly sending first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, center Larry Nance Jr. and guard Dyson Daniels back to Atlanta. The 2025 pick is the Los Angeles Lakers’ unprotected pick acquired via the Anthony Davis trade, while the 2027 pick would be less favorable to the Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks’ selections.

Murray is entering the first season of a four-year, $120 million contract he signed with the Hawks last season.

The trade is another big change in the NBA offseason, with the Pelicans attempting to upgrade a core already headlined by Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum. As far as the Hawks are concerned, they are moving on from a player they were supposed to help take the next step.

Can Dejounte Murray help the Pelicans?

Since the Davis trade, the Pelicans have been slowly building themselves back into a playoff team. That effort led to a 49–33 record last season, but they still needed a play-in tournament to reach the playoffs.

The Pelicans’ season ended with a first-round loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it was hard to watch their performance and not think they needed the extra experience to stand out in the West.

Dejounte Murray Trade: New Orleans Pelicans,Injury update,Age

With Murray, the Pelicans are getting a player who should play very well with McCollum in the backcourt while adding to the team’s defensive identity. With the strong defensive principles of Herb Jones and coach Willie Green, the team finished sixth in the NBA in defensive rating last year at 111.9.

Murray and McCollum are capable ball-handlers who remain threats on the perimeter, and it forms the foundation of the Pelicans’ new offense with Trey Murphy while Williamson attacks the paint. It’s Ingram’s role that could change with the addition of Murray, as he is a free agent next offseason.

Injury update

The Pelicans are making a big gamble by trading for Murray, which didn’t exactly work out for the last team to do so.

The Hawks acquired Murray from the San Antonio Spurs in the summer of 2022, parting ways with a package larger than what the Pelicans gave up (three first-round picks, a pick swap and Danilo Gallinari). At the time, the expectation was that Murray could be an ideal complement to Trae Young, a player with major defensive deficiencies who needed the ball in his hands to be useful.

Dejounte Murray Trade: New Orleans Pelicans,Injury update,Age

It’s hard to argue that Murray didn’t perform at his best, but the overall result was, at best, disappointing. The Hawks went 41–41 in his first season with Murray and 36–46 in his second. The team’s defense was a mess, and head coach Quin Snyder’s entire season didn’t help.

So Atlanta is partially hitting the reset button. Unless the Hawks want to dismantle the team, Young probably isn’t going anywhere. He, De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic are all under contract for at least two more seasons and parting ways with Murray could be a way for the team to realign the formula that hasn’t worked so far Is.

Still, it’s hard not to see this trade as an admission that paying for Murray was a mistake in the first place.
During the 2024 NBA Playoffs, the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers renewed their fierce rivalry of the 1990s with a tough second-round series that lasted seven games.

What makes the current clash so compelling is the duel between All-Star point guards Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton. Although the two have not always faced each other on the court due to defensive matchups, they are among the best point guards in the league and could oppose each other in the playoffs in the coming years.
Keeping the feud (or kayfabe) alive, Brunson and Haliburton took their rivalry off the court and into the ring at Madison Square Garden on Friday night for “WWE SmackDown.” The Knicks guard’s home crowd was in his favor.

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