The San Antonio Spurs are trading Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks for Danilo Gallinari, three first-round draft picks and a draft swap, sources told The Athletic on Thursday.
The three draft picks are all in the first round — 2025 and 2027, plus Charlotte's 2023 protected first and a swap of picks in 2026.
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Murray, 25, was drafted by the Spurs in 2016 as the 29th pick and played five seasons in San Antonio, missing the 2018-19 season due to a torn ACL. Last season, the 6-foot-4 point guard started in 68 games, averaging 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists.
The Spurs will get Gallinari, who spent four years playing professionally in Italy before getting selected sixth in the 2008 draft by the New York Knicks. The 6-10 power forward played with the Knicks from 2008-11 before getting traded to the Nuggets. He also had a brief stint with the Clippers from 2017-19 and played in Oklahoma City during the 2019-20 season. In Atlanta last season, Gallinari played in 66 games with 18 starts, averaging 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj / USA Today)
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Expectations for the Hawks with Murray?
Chris Kirschner, Hawks beat writer: Expectations for the Hawks are still to be determined. The roster as is probably isn't enough to win a title. More moves have to be made. The Hawks got better defensively with this trade, but they still need more defenders.
It also remains to be seen how Trae Young will look playing off the ball more than he ever has since entering the NBA. The good news is he's been highly efficient doing it so far, but it'll likely be an adjustment to doing it more frequently.
Where does San Antonio go from here?
Kirschner: It's clear with this move that San Antonio will tank this season and go into full rebuild mode now that they've lost their All-Star guard. The obvious goal here is for the Spurs to land the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft and potentially land Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.
How will Young and Murray share the backcourt?
Kirschner: Both Young and Murray will start for the Hawks in the backcourt. I would imagine Murray will have more of an off-ball role than he had with San Antonio as the primary initiator. But as stated above, having Murray will unlock more off-ball opportunities for Young.
We saw how Miami guarded Young in the first round of the playoffs this season and how that series made it clear that he needed a better scoring and playmaking threat next to him. The Hawks now have their guy in Murray.