Pelicans Land Dejounte Murray From Hawks For Larry Nance Jr, Dyson Daniels, Picks

The Atlanta Hawks were rumored to be exploring Dejounte Murray trades for six months and now they finally pulled it off.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Hawks are trading Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for forward Larry Nance Jr., guard Dyson Daniels, a 2025 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick.

Earlier this week, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported that the Pelicans were “longtime admirers” of Murray.

Meanwhile, the Hawks are looking to shore things up after landing forward Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. It’s unclear if they intend to keep star guard Trae Young, also involved in trade rumors.

Atlanta becomes Nance’s fifth team.

One of the top two-way players in the NBA, Murray averaged 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.3 blocks in 2023-24, shooting 45.9% from the field, 36.3% on 3-pointers and 79.4% from the free-throw line.

The Hawks signed Murray to a four-year, $114 million extension in July 2023. He is due to make $24.8 million next season. 

Murray has career averages of 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.3 blocks with the San Antonio Spurs and Hawks.

While Murray helps shore up New Orleans’ backcourt next to CJ McCollum, questions about the frontcourt remain. That’s particularly the case with forward Brandon Ingram.

“A prominent former All-Star considered more likely to be dealt this week with the draft and free agency converging: New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram,” Stein wrote. “It was roughly six weeks ago, back on May 12, that I wrote about a growing belief leaguewide that New Orleans would seriously explore the trade market for Ingram before next season. Anticipation that Ingram will soon be on the move has only swelled some six weeks later.”

Nance, the son of Cleveland Cavaliers legend Larry Nance Sr., averaged 5.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 61 games this past season, 57.3% from the field. He has also spent time with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cavs and Portland Trail Blazers.

Daniels also appeared in 61 games, averaging 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists, shooting 44.7% from the field and 31.1% on threes.