NBA News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Apr 14, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray (5) dribbles the ball while Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard (26) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

ESPN: Hawks Trade For Dejounte Murray Is One Of The Worst NBA Mistakes Of This Decade

Originally posted on Atlanta Hawks on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 5:00 PM ET

What a difference a year makes.

At this time last offseason, there was not much optimism surrounding the Atlanta Hawks. They failed to make the playoffs, got the No. 1 pick in a year that no team seemingly wanted the No. 1 pick, and had major questions about the pairing of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Murray was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr, and two first-round picks. Opinion was split on who won the trade at the time, but there should be no debate about the topic now.

Hawks'This may go down as the greatest trade in Atlanta Hawks history (pending the results of another trade that involves the Pelicans), and the Hawks future looks brighter because of it. Daniels won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award and was the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year while being looked at as a crucial piece for the Hawks future alongside Young.

While the second trade has given the Hawks franchise life, the first Murray trade almost put the Hawks in one of the worst positions in the NBA. In a ranking of each franchise's worst mistake of the decade, the Hawks' initial trade for Murray was No. 7, and the Pelicans' trade for Murray was No. 6:

"First things first: It's not Murray's fault he has been the target of two of the worst trades of the decade. He's a one-time All-Star and All-Defensive honoree.

But we're grouping these two moves because of his cursed transaction tree.

First, the Hawks, seeking to find a backcourt partner for Trae Young and regain the magic that had propelled them to a surprising conference finals berth in 2021, acquired Murray from the Spurs in exchange for three future firsts and a pick swap. One of those picks (via the Hornets) didn't end up conveying, but the Spurs landed Carter Bryant (the No. 14 pick last month) from this deal, and they still control the Hawks' unprotected picks in 2026 and 2027.

Despite that high cost, Murray didn't get Atlanta anywhere closer to contention. The Hawks didn't finish with a winning record in either season that Murray was on the roster, and lineups with Young and Murray playing together were outscored both years.

Atlanta's saving grace is that New Orleans made an even more lopsided trade for Murray just two years later, nabbing the All-Star guard in exchange for Dyson Daniels and two first-round picks (one of which the Hawks dealt in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, the other set to convey in 2027).

If that deal were just a straight-up swap of Murray for Daniels, Atlanta would have won it. Murray tore an Achilles as the Pelicans finished 21-61 last season, while Daniels, who's seven years younger, won the Most Improved Player award and finished as the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up. That the Pelicans also surrendered two firsts only makes their side of the trade look worse."

In a recent article, ESPN's Kevin Pelton regraded the trade, and it is no surprise who is seen as the winner:

Original grades:
Atlanta: B+
New Orleans: B+

Regrades:
Atlanta: A
New Orleans: F

"This deal already looked like a mistake for the Pelicans before Murray suffered an Achilles rupture at the end of January that should keep him off the court for at least the first couple of months of the 2025-26 season.

The biggest issue here was New Orleans selling low on Daniels, the No. 8 pick in 2022. At the time, I noted that top-10 picks traded so early in their careers have tended to disappoint because the team trading them has more info about their development. Whoops! Daniels rightfully won Most Improved Player after becoming the first player in decades to average 3.0 steals.

Given that Daniels still has a year left on his bargain rookie contract ($7.7 million this season), getting him for Murray would have been a reasonable return for Atlanta. In addition, the Hawks got this year's No. 22 pick -- used to get Kristaps Porzingis from the Boston Celtics last month -- and another first-rounder in 2027 that looks more promising given Giannis Antetokounmpo's uncertain future in Milwaukee."

Given the season that Daniels had (especially on defense), it is hard to disagree with the grade that Pelton gave.

Daniels owned a league-best 3.01 steals per game this past season, the first player to average over 3.0 steals per game since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91. He swiped 229 total steals, the most thefts in a single season in franchise history and the most by any player in the NBA since 1996 Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton (231, 1995-96). The third-year guard owned 98 more steals than the next closest player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 131), marking the largest gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in NBA history. He finished the season with a steal-to-foul ratio of 1.31 (229 steals to 175 fouls), the ninth-best steal-to-foul ratio since 1973-74 and the best by any player in the league since Allen Iverson in 2002-03 (1.51).

Behind Daniels’ defensive presence, the Hawks improved their defensive rating from 118.4 in 2023-24 (27th in NBA) to 114.8 (18th in NBA), per NBA.com/Stats, a 3.6 improvement and the sixth-best improvement by any team this past season. Atlanta recorded 48 games with 10-or-more steals this past season, the most such games by any team in the NBA and the second-most such games in a single season in franchise history (1993-94, 56).

At 22 years and six days, the two-time Defensive Player of the Month recipient became the youngest player in the NBA since at least 1973-74 to tally at least 200 steals in a single season, surpassing Magic Johnson in 1981-82 (22 years, 240 days). In addition to his league-best 229 steals, Daniels also recorded 55 blocks, leading the entire league with a total of 284 stocks (steals + blocks). He became the first guard to lead the NBA in total stocks since 1988 Defensive Player of the Year Michael Jordan (390, 1987-88).