Hawks reach deal to send Dejounte Murray to Pelicans for package including 2 first-round picks

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks completed a trade Saturday that sends prolific guard Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for a package of two first-round picks and three veterans.

The trade announced by the Hawks sends guard Dyson Daniels, forward/center Larry Nance Jr. and center Cody Zeller to Atlanta. The Hawks will receive a 2025 first-round pick and a conditional 2027 first-round pick. The 2027 pick will be a protected top-four pick that will be the least favorable of the picks tied to the Pelicans and Milwaukee.

Atlanta did not have a first-round pick next year before making the trade, which was finalized more than a week after the framework of the Murray deal was first announced.

The Hawks made swingman Zaccharie Risacher of France the first overall pick in the NBA draft last month before trading AJ Griffin to Houston for a second-round pick used to acquire the rights to guard/forward Nikola Djurisic of Serbia.

Murray’s trade comes after the Hawks failed to win a playoff series in his two seasons joining Trae Young as the team’s high-scoring backcourt.

“Our goal is to build a competitive team that can compete all the way to the playoffs,” general manager Landry Fields said in a team statement.

“After further analysis and evaluation over the course of the offseason, it became clear that we needed to reshape our roster and reclaim assets that would allow us to further develop our team. It is 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.”

The Hawks finished 10th in the Eastern Conference at 36-46 this season and have not won a playoff series since reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.

Murray, 27, averaged a career-high 22.5 points and 6.4 assists this season. He averaged 15.4 points in seven seasons, including five with San Antonio.

“Dejounte is one of the best two-way guards in the NBA and adds another dimension to our team, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome him and his family to New Orleans,” Pelicans chief basketball officer David Griffin said in a statement released by the team.

The 6-foot-1 Daniels averaged 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 61 games, including 16 as a starter, with New Orleans last season. He provides a defensive boost, filling a Hawks weakness after ranking 10th in the NBA with 1.4 steals per game.

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