Atlanta Hawks GM Landry Fields Reveals Why They Decided to Trade Dejounte Murray

It’s been nearly two weeks since the Atlanta Hawks made one of their most important decisions as a franchise.

Two years after completing a blockbuster trade to bring Murray over from the San Antonio Spurs, the Hawks sent him to New Orleans in exchange for Dyson Daniels, EJ Liddell, Larry Nance, Cody Zeller and two first-round picks. The Hawks are aiming to get back into the playoff race and are hoping these new pieces will help them get there.

Atlanta is preparing to head to Las Vegas for Summer League and Hawks general manager Landry Fields spoke to the media today. When asked what went into the decision to trade Murray, here’s what Fields had to say:

“We’re just evaluating where we’re at. It was a tough decision, it was a challenge, we knew where we wanted to be, we were going to have to make some tough decisions, we weren’t at the point where we felt like we could continue with what we had, so we wanted to reshape some things and that’s an unfortunate part of the business. Dejounte is a fantastic player and we’re excited for him and his journey in New Orleans and we’re also really happy for the guys that we got back. We also got some assets back that are going to be useful to us. We wish him nothing but the best, he and his family have been nothing but great to us.”

Fields said this after the deal closed Sunday:

“Our goal is to build a competitive team that can compete with the Hawks all the way to the playoffs,” Hawks general manager Landry Fields said. “After further analysis and evaluation over the course of the offseason, it became clear that we needed to reshape our roster and bring back assets that would allow us to further develop our team. It’s certainly difficult to trade a player like DJ, but we knew it was best for our organization to move forward in this manner. We wish him and his family the best.”

Dyson Daniels played in 61 games (16 as a starter) in the 2023-24 season, posting career-highs of 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 22.3 minutes. He scored 10 or more points in a career-best 13 games in the 2023-24 campaign, scoring a career-best 17 points against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 12.

A 2024 Panini Rising Star, Daniels recorded 1.4 steals per game during the 2023-24 campaign, which ranked 10th in the NBA, and posted a .341 steal percentage last season, which ranked fifth in the league (min. 50 GP). He recorded a career-high six steals at Utah on Nov. 25, becoming the only sophomore to steal at least six steals in a single game last season and one of only two freshmen or sophomores to do so, joining Victor Wembanyama. He recorded all six steals in the first half, tying him for the most steals in a single half in the NBA last season and tying him for the second-most steals in a single half in New Orleans history.

Selected eighth overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Pelicans, the 6-foot-1 guard has career averages of 4.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 20.0 minutes in 120 games (including 27 starts). Prior to the Pelicans, he spent the 2021-22 season with NBA G League Ignite, where he was named to the 2022 Clorox Rising Stars roster.

Daniels, originally from Bendigo, Australia, played for Australia at the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup.

Liddell played eight games with the Pelicans during the 2023-24 season and 29 games with the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. In those 29 games, the Belleville, Illinois native averaged 17.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.8 blocks in 26.3 minutes (.504 FG%, .787 FT%). Selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft and signed to a two-way contract on Oct. 16, 2022, Liddell missed the entire 2022-23 season with a torn ACL.

A two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, Liddell played in 92 games (including 61 as a start) over three collegiate seasons at Ohio State, recording 14.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocks in 26.4 minutes (.480 FG%, .341 3FG%, .749 FT%). He finished his Buckeyes career with the seventh-most blocks in program history (143) and was one of 33 players in program history with 1,000-plus career points and 500-plus career rebounds.

Nance Jr. played in 61 games in 2023-24, averaging 5.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals in 19.9 minutes (.573 FG%, .415 3FG%, .770 FT%). He scored his 4,000th career point on April 14 against the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the 29th active player to record 4,000-plus points (4,001), 3,000 rebounds (3,238), 950 assists (979), 600 steals (601) and 250 blocks (255).

Drafted 27th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2015 NBA draft, Nance Jr. has played in 522 games (134 as a starter) over his nine-year career, playing for the Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans. He has career averages of 7.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 23.2 minutes of play (.540 shooting, .342 three-point shooting, .696 free throw shooting). In 30 career playoff games, the 2.03m forward has averaged 5.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.4 minutes of play (.629 shooting).

A native of Akron, Ohio, the 2014-15 Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year enjoyed a four-year collegiate career at Wyoming (2011-15), appearing in 123 games (89 starts) and averaging 11.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 29.5 minutes (.521 FG%, .771 FT%).

Zeller, an 11-year NBA veteran, has played in 552 career games (including 275 as a starter), averaging 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.9 minutes for Charlotte, Portland, Miami and New Orleans. Last season with the Pelicans, the Indiana University product averaged 1.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 7.4 minutes while playing in 43 games.

He was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by Charlotte.

Murray was acquired by the Hawks on June 30, 2022, from the San Antonio Spurs. During his two seasons with Atlanta, he recorded 21.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 36.0 minutes (.462 FG%, .355 3FG%, .810 FT%). Murray became the first player in franchise history to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in multiple seasons and currently ranks 15th in three-point field goals made in club history (334).