That spores have made a trade watch agreement Dejount Murray to the hawks for a package that contains Danilo Gallinari and several first-round picks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). San Antonio gets three first-rounders and one draft swap. tweets Shams Charania by The Athletic.
According to Wojnarowski and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter connections), the three picks going to the Spurs will be Charlotte’s 2023 first-rounder (top-16 protected) and the Hawks’ own first-rounders in 2025 and 2027. San Antonio also has the right to swap first-round picks with Atlanta in 2026.
These picks from 2025 and 2027 – along with the swap from 2026 – will be unprotected, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic.
Marc Stein first reported (via twitter) that momentum was building toward a Murray trade, noting that the Knicks and Timberwolves were also among the watch’s known suitors. However, Atlanta was the team most closely linked with Murray after deals were reportedly reviewed for him dating back to the February close.
The deal represents a major backcourt upgrade for the Hawks, who will add an All-Star — and one of the league’s best fullbacks — to complement the All-NBA guard Trae Young without giving up any players from their prospective squad for 2022/23.
It is not clear whether commercial candidate JohnCollins will still be in Atlanta when the 22/23 season begins, but he’s not part of that deal after being implicated in previous Murray-related rumors.
Murray enjoyed a breakout season in 2021-22, averaging 21.1 PPG, 9.2 APG, 8.3 RPG and a league-leading 2.0 SPG with a .462/.327/.794 shooting line in 68 games (34, 8MPG). The 25-year-old came second in the Most Improved Player category.
Murray’s skills and defensive versatility make him an ideal backcourt partner for Young, who is said to be “excited” about the move, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Murray is signed for the next two seasons and owes him just over $34 million during that time.
Spurs’ motives for the deal are a little less obvious than Hawks’, as it’s not as if Murray was on an entirely different timeline from the team’s young core, but perhaps he wasn’t part of the club’s plans about his current addition contract. San Antonio’s decision to accept a package that includes distant draft picks rather than current players signals that near-term infighting is unlikely as the front office looks to the future.
The Hornets’ 2023 pick will be lottery-protected in 2024 and 2025 if not submitted next year, and would turn into two second-round picks if not submitted by that time. The Hawks’ own picks — and the 2026 swap — could be significantly more valuable, especially if the team suffers a downturn over the next few years.
Gallinari’s salary of $21.45 million had only been partially guaranteed for $5 million and should be fully guaranteed if he stayed under contract to date.
The veteran forward is unlikely to be in Spurs’ plans at that full $21.45 million, so the most likely outcome is that his partial guarantee will be increased by an additional $6 million to legally match Murray’s salary, and then be waived. Gallinari may agree to push back the date of his salary guarantee to give teams time to complete the trade and ensure he gets that extra cash, although that’s just my speculation at this point.