close
close

Hot new trade idea sends Dejounte Murray + Bogdan Bogdanovic to Golden State, Jonathan Kuminga to Atlanta

The NBA offseason is quickly approaching and the Atlanta Hawks are going to be one of the most interesting teams to watch in the coming weeks. They have the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, so they will likely make a decision on the Trae Young/Dejounte Murray backcourt and other players like Clint Capela. De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic could also be on the move. This Hawks roster needs changes and the team will likely look a lot different in a few weeks.

The Golden State Warriors are going to be an interesting team to watch this offseason. They lost in the play-in tournament to the Kings, but one could argue that without Draymond Green’s absences during the season, this would have been a top six team in the Western Conference. There’s a lot of debate about whether the Warriors’ window to win another championship with this core of players is closed, but they could take steps to stay in the race.

Could the two teams be business partners? It’s a possibility and Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley has the Hawks sending Murray and Bogdanovic to the Warriors for a huge package centered around Jonathan Kuminga:

The trade: Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney and the Atlanta Hawks’ 2026 first-round pick (top-five protected) for Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanović

“Fresh off an exceptional season, Kuminga has been described as being ‘pretty much’ untouchable. It may be a case of semantics, but it doesn’t mean the same thing as ‘actually’ untouchable.

There are some moves the Warriors should consider sending out their promising swingman, and this could be one of them. They need to provide Stephen Curry with championship-level support quickly, which would provide two plug-and-play impact players at an otherwise manageable cost. Wiggins is overpaid if he plays like he has over the past two seasons, Looney could be on his way out, and trading just one first-rounder wouldn’t totally deplete the Dubs’ collection of trade assets.

Golden State needs more athleticism, defense at the point of attack and shooting on the perimeter, and this deal would get all three. Murray is a former All-Defensive honoree who is coming off the best shooting season of his career (2.6 threes per outing with a 36.3% splash rate). Bogdanović makes things happen with or without the ball, and he manages the game at a high enough level to fit perfectly into this system.

The Warriors and Hawks would first have to reduce their payroll for that to be permitted under the collective bargaining agreement, but it’s easy to imagine both imagining a big enough reward here to voluntarily clear those hurdles.

I don’t think the Warriors are going to trade Kuminga, but if they decide to see what they could get for him, Atlanta should be interested. Kuminga is an athletic forward who would pair well with Trae Young and improve the Hawks defense. Kuminga is also a rapidly improving offensive player. Wiggins’ contract is one of the worst in the league, but if he could play like he did during the Warriors’ 2022 title run (a big if), it could work. Looney could be the Hawks’ big backup and the 2026 first-round pick is attractive, considering Atlanta doesn’t have many draft assets.

Would that be enough to get the Warriors back into championship contention? Maybe. Curry and Murray could work well together and Bogdanovic was great for the Hawks last season. It might depend on whether the Warriors want to bring back Klay Thompson, but this type of trade could rule him out.

This would be an interesting trade that I would consider if I were the Hawks because I’m very high on Kuminga, but he’s the only truly valuable piece. Looney struggles at times and Wiggins was pretty terrible last season. If these two couldn’t contribute, it would be a losing trade for Atlanta.