Atlanta Hawks Trade Dejounte Murray, But Now What?

The Atlanta Hawks have gone radio silent after trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans on June 28. After a failed experiment pairing him with Trae Young, general manager Landry Fields decided that Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. would fit better into what the Hawks are trying to build around Young. Daniels is an exceptional defender at 21 and will serve as a nice piece of the backcourt rotation with Kobe Bufkin.

Nance played primarily power forward while in the Pelicans’ rotation, and he’ll likely do the same under Hawks head coach Quin Snyder.

This concerted effort to strengthen the defense is a promising sign for the Hawks.

The Murray trade also improved the team’s spacing. However, the question remains: What’s next? The Hawks need to find another shot creator alongside Young to replace Murray. The free-agent market is in full swing with recent league moves like Klay Thompson’s departure from the Golden State Warriors and Paul George’s max contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, adding more pressure on Fields and management to make a move.

The stakes are high because they need to improve this offseason, especially considering the possibility that Young could request a trade after another mediocre season in Atlanta. Brandon Ingram is a real possibility because he has one year left on his five-year, $158 million contract with New Orleans, and Pelicans general manager David Griffin has yet to offer Ingram an extension.

The Miami Heat are still in negotiations with Jimmy Butler. As of July 4, no progress has been reported on the situation.

The Hawks’ problem is that owner Tony Ressler and management don’t want to pay the luxury tax to acquire another star player. That’s understandable, given that role players like Vit Krejci and Bruno Fernando still need to be paid. Their biggest priority is saving as much money as possible to negotiate an extension with Young when the time comes in 2026. Young represents 30.61% of the Hawks’ cap hit percentage, and another star will take the same amount or more.

Management must choose between paying the tax for another star player or being a lower-ranked team in the Eastern Conference for the third straight season.

There are still several free agents available if Fields and company are willing to spend money. Malik Beasley is coming off a stellar season from beyond the arc (41%) and would be a decent shot creator for a reasonable price. Taylor Horton Tucker is another promising young guard who is an unrestricted free agent and could be an asset for the future at age 23.

Many NBA analysts believe Ressler won’t pay the tax, and if so, it would be a huge gamble. This young team needs to develop further to compete with powerhouses like the newly crowned champions Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Sixers. The Hawks are constantly criticized for not making moves this offseason, and that’s largely due to the financial restrictions Ressler has placed on the franchise.

Ressler bought the team from Bruce Levenson in June 2015 for $850 million and has since increased the Hawks’ value to $3.33 billion. During that time, the biggest contract they paid was Young’s five-year, $207 million extension in 2021, and nothing like it since. They lost a lot of members from the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals because they didn’t want to pay the tax.

Two bad seasons followed, and they will experience the same in the 2024-25 season unless a big transfer is made.

The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that if you don’t pay the luxury tax, you’ll receive a cash bonus for your franchise. If management sees the cash bonus as valuable for the future, they may choose not to pursue a star-level player, prioritizing financial stability. However, if they really want to win now, Ressler will pay the luxury tax, taking a considerable risk for a franchise-changing reward.