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The San Antonio Spurs have reportedly agreed commercial guard Dejaunt Murray to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in exchange for forward Danilo Galinari, three first-round picks and a future selective swap.
Zack Lowe @ZachLowe_NBA
The first round 2025 and 2027 are unprotected picks in the first round of the ATL, per league source. https://t.co/6M1PAaCfQ8
Zack Lowe @ZachLowe_NBA
Teams are very reluctant to do so. They often fight for higher protection 1. Choosing a Medium/Protected CHA, but the rest is about draft capital (maybe more) as SAS expected it to get. Even pushing to 2025/27 (not 2023/2025) is important https://t.co/J5eRNuCadu
Adrian Wojnarowski The news was reported by ESPN. The Hawks have been one of several teams that have negotiated deals with Tottenham for Murray in recent weeks as San Antonio appears to be embarking on a massive rebuilding effort.
Rumors regarding Murray’s situation with Tottenham have been circulating for several weeks. The All-Star Keeper has gone even further read Rumors on social media.
San Antonio’s motive for moving Murray seems curious at best. He’s coming off the best season of his career, averaging 21.0 points, 9.2 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals while playing a stellar perimeter defense.
Spurs also owns Murray under a friendly deal that will pay him $34.2 million over the next two seasons.
While this is clearly the start of a full-scale rebuilding effort, Murray is not yet 26 years old until September and will still be in the prime of his life when Spurs plan to compete again.
The 2023 NBA Draft features forward Victor Wimpanyama, one of the most famous prospects in recent memory, and another potential star in goalkeeper Scott Henderson. Spurs will likely feel they would be too good to have Murray in the fold so they can get a realistic shot at picking the top two.
However, the fact that Spurs are in this position calls into question their team-building strategy in the past few years. there The calls were for the franchise to begin the rebuilding phase in 2018 when Kowhi Leonard requested the trade. Rather than taking a bunch of picks and young players, Tottenham instead opted for a package most notably DeMar DeRozan, who has allowed the team to remain in the competition but is stuck in a mid-level purgatory.
Spurs held playoffs in DeRozan’s first year with the franchise but were sent off in the first round before failing to make the postseason for each of the last three seasons. It’s fair to argue that Spurs were in no position to trade Murray if they chose the right path four years ago.
There’s also the question of whether 73-year-old Greg Popovich has the ability to rebuild that will likely take him into his late 70s.
As far as the hawks go, this is a no-brainer. Murray fills two of the team’s biggest needs, perimeter defense and ballpark who can help take the load off Trae Young’s shoulders. Charlotte’s first-round pick is protected from 1-16 next season and the lottery is protected until 2025; You can’t even get a Spurs in the Wimbayana race.
Hawks’ draft picks in the first round of the lottery for the foreseeable future, barring a string of catastrophic injuries or a feud with Young.
As it stands, Atlanta has given up three picks from that project to be in his late teens to mid-20s and an expired contract for the 25-year-old All-Star. Nothing short of a home run.
