The Trae Young-Dejounte Murray experiment clearly did not work out for Atlanta. They aren’t anywhere close to contending and just keep going backwards. A rebuild might be necessary. Fortunately, these trades could help get a good start on that.
Trade #1: Spurs receive: Trae Young. Hawks receive: Keldon Johnson, Malaki Branham, 2024 FRP via Toronto (likely the 7th pick), 2025 FRP via Chicago, and the Hawks own FRP’s in 2025 and 2027, as well as their swap in 2026.
Why the Hawks do this: They aren’t winning with Trae. They’ve tried for years, and the 2021 conference finals appearance was defo a fluke. That being said, Trae is playing great this year, and would fetch a huge haul. The Spurs would give them the 7th pick this year, and the Hawks their own draft capital back, which would allow them to rebuild. Keldon Johnson is a good player, just having a down season, and Branham could do good there as well.
Why the Spurs do this: Victor Wembanyama has looked unbelievable in his rookie season and all the hype of him being a generational talent has been proven true. With that being said, their point guard situation is not good. They tried with Jeremy Sochan 😂, and while Tre jones isn’t bad, he’s not really a starter long term. Imagine Trae and Wemby pick and roll as well as lobs. That would be so exciting to watch. Plus SAS keeps their FRP this year so they can add that to a team with Trae, Devin Vassell, Sochan, and Wemby. Pretty nice team.
Trade #2: Pelicans receive: Dejounte Murray. Hawks receive: Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, 2025 and 2027 FRP’s via Milwaukee.
Why the Hawks do this: They tried going all in by trading for Murray, but it didn’t work. In fact, they almost traded him at the deadline. One of these teams that wanted him was the New Orleans Pelicans. And this return they get is solid. Nance will be expiring after 2025, Daniels is a decent young player, and 2 firsts seems like a solid offer for him. After these moves, I’d look to move Clint Capela, and potentially Deandre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Maybe the Pels can try to get one of those as well 🤔? But this seems like a good return for Murray.
Why the Pelicans do this: New Orleans wanted Murray at the deadline, but weren’t going to trade CJ, Zion, Ingram, Herb, or Trey. Well in this deal, they still keep those guys and add Dejounte. He’d give them some more playmaking and if his defense goes back to what it was in SAS, imagine him and Herb Jones together on that end. The only downside is that they’d have no big, but I think they’ll either draft a center, or roll with Small-ball Zion. They don’t really need Val anyways so I think they’d be okay with adjusting to something else. This would make the Pels legitimate if everyone is healthy.
LMK your thoughts on these trades! And comment other Hawks trades that could work as I’m trying to do a full hawks blowup plan soon.