r/nba • u/dragon8811 Lakers • 4d ago

[Wojnarowski] Atlanta is trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans, sources tell ESPN. News

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1806820395569512505
6.4k Upvotes
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481

u/Brad-Stevens Celtics 4d ago

Trae stay?!

364

u/TatumBrownWhite Celtics 4d ago

He was always going to, he's close with ownership

318

u/ColdPressedSteak 4d ago

He's always had the higher ceiling than Dejounte. I'm not even a big Trae fan but dunno why some of this sub thought they should be trading Trae instead of Dejounte

197

u/GoForAGap Nuggets 4d ago

A guy who consistently averages 27/who cares he’s 6ft/10 a game should be a franchise cornerstone

105

u/VensersRevenge 4d ago

I'm close to buying a Trae Young jersey just because so many people seem to hate him for no reason

52

u/GoForAGap Nuggets 4d ago

Exactly. Dude can ball

9

u/N8ThaGr8 Hawks 3d ago

Welcome brother

3

u/dontusethisforwork Suns 3d ago

It's the punchable face

0

u/Fresh-Mind6048 Trail Blazers 3d ago

Buy it and then go to NYC

-15

u/dunkerjunker 3d ago

It's not hate. It just Murray is a better all around star.

8

u/WcP Hawks 3d ago

Genuinely wild opinion, IMO. Dejounte at his Spurs peak wasn’t even near Trae, much less his current level.

21

u/LordHussyPants Celtics 3d ago

who cares he’s 6ft

lmao (but for real he should go to the payton pritchard school of undersized rebounders)

12

u/Dob-is-Hella-Rad NBA 3d ago

He also led them to the ECF with Bogdanovic, Collins, Capela and Huerter. Some of the comments I’ve seen around him act like his stats don’t translate to wins or you need to put some super unique team around him - so how did 2021 happen?

-10

u/rocco5000 Bullets 4d ago

Not when he's a turnstile on D. Any good playoff team would hunt him relentlessly.

13

u/Nag-hee-nana-jar 3d ago

How many players can you name that are that effective offensively that are also reasonably good defenders? There's not a ton, I'd much rather build around trae than blow it up and keep dejounte. Whether that makes them contenders depends on what other moves they make.

-12

u/Theons 4d ago

Most shallow take on the situation lmao

10

u/GoForAGap Nuggets 4d ago

Am I wrong though?

-17

u/bobdolebobdole 4d ago

As others have mentioned his D is problematic. Also him taking 20 shots/game and only hitting around 42-43% of them is not "franchise cornerstone" material. He's a second-tier chucker who takes way too many ill-advised threes.

9

u/GoForAGap Nuggets 4d ago

He’s also averaging 9.5 assists throughout his entire career, yet he’s a ‘shot chucker’?

-4

u/bobdolebobdole 3d ago

Yes, he is. You think he’s a good shooter?

2

u/GoForAGap Nuggets 3d ago

Nope you said he’s a shot chucker. Stay on topic please

98

u/RRJC10 Raptors 4d ago

Higher ceiling is a weird way to put it. Trae is just flat out better and has been since his sophomore season. 

46

u/TatumBrownWhite Celtics 4d ago

Well Trae can do more with less and is the far superior floor raiser, but Dejounte fits better on a great team like the Celtics, Knicks, Thunder, Nuggets etc.

8

u/throwaway1212378 [CLE] J.R. Smith 3d ago edited 3d ago

I’m assuming the logic is that Trae needs the ball in his hand mores and all those teams have main guys/2nd guys that already have that

Also Murray is supposed to be a good defender

37

u/Vxmonarkxv Hawks 4d ago

What exactly does dejounte do better than Trae? Hes taller, did not translate to better defense.

16

u/throwaway1212378 [CLE] J.R. Smith 3d ago

He used to be known as a good defender, what happened?

23

u/stdfan Hawks 3d ago

He’s good at using his length getting steals. Never been a good one on one defender. I honestly felt like Trae was the better defender of the two last year.

10

u/Swimming_Rip_9304 3d ago

This man knows ball. Trae definitely better 1v1 defender

9

u/throwaway1212378 [CLE] J.R. Smith 3d ago

I have to be honest I haven’t seen many hawks games lol.

3

u/stdfan Hawks 3d ago

You’re lucky. It wasn’t fun last year especially after Trae went down.

3

u/dotint 3d ago

I feel like I been swindled into believing he was a good defender and idk how

3

u/Cautious_Hornet_9607 Hawks 3d ago

Don't worry, you're not the only one. Ask the Hawks FO

3

u/SaltyTraeYoungStan Hawks 3d ago

His contract fits better, that’s basically it.

9

u/Cool_Youth3564 4d ago

As a Knicks fan murray does not fit

0

u/juicejug Celtics 4d ago

Not as great of a fit as Bridges, but before that trade I think a Brunson/DJ/OG/Randle/iHart lineup could’ve worked. DJ’s personality might hold things back, but he’s a good shooter and decent defender.

1

u/felipetomatoes99 Hawks 3d ago

he's straight up not a good defender. he is literally inferior to trae in every way except size

1

u/ElChapo1515 4d ago

Why is that?

1

u/CDR57 Celtics 4d ago

Those two games against the Celtics this year is why

1

u/supersoldierboy94 3d ago

I think Trae is a better player but Dejounte is easy to plug and play. He was from the Spurs so he can move off ball and has better defensive skills. I think his creation is underrated too.

4

u/Jan7742 Hawks 3d ago

I mean he'd already spent two years in the Hawks to show he's not? He in fact needs the ball on hand, not that great of a point guard, and undisciplined on defence. If you meant easier to plug and play than Trae does, then I agree.

0

u/supersoldierboy94 3d ago

Or they are using him wrongly? His defense back in Spurs is pretty good and he has great tools. He was used very differently in Spurs vs Hawks where the offense is heliocentric and spams a shit ton of PnR. You can be a plug and play talent but if you are being used wrongly there’s really nothing you can do. Its like Klay being easy to plug and play and then you let him do a bunch of isos.

3

u/Jan7742 Hawks 3d ago

Fair, I only stated what I saw on the Hawks, which has been a pretty unfunctional team for the past two years. But I do think some people rate his defense too highly. I hope too see he shine in NOLA as well.

0

u/supersoldierboy94 3d ago

I wanted the Hawks to play him as SF when Trae is there and PG when he isnt. I dont see him as an SG catch and shoot guy but a slasher. Hopefully he does good in NO as their main PG tho

1

u/downtimeredditor Hawks 3d ago

People always disrespect trae for that trade.

Like the trade is the trade. Dallas always wanted Luka and Atlanta always wanted trae. Dallas just didn't know if Memphis wanted Luka so proposed a trade with Atlanta.

The reality is Trae is still a Superstar in this league with Hall of Fame potential and a generational passer.

Luka is just much better than him. The trade was just Hawks getting greedy with an extra first rounder. But remember the trade only goes through IF Memphis doesn't draft Trae.

I think if Dallas never proposed the trade we trae with the #3 Overall pick cause when Dallas did the trade Hawks asked them who they wanted they didn't know if it was going to be Luka. During that draft season some people had Colin Sexton over trae.

0

u/5lackBot Toronto Huskies 4d ago

Trae would fetch a better return on the market. A guy like Trae could probably get you a guy like KAT but a guy like DJ is getting you what you got in this trade lol.

Both Trae and DJ are capable of being floor raisers.

Neither of them are capable of being ceiling raisers as the #1 or #2 option. DJ is more suited to be a ceiling raiser on a good team as the 3rd best player. Trae is unable to be a ceiling raiser because don't think he'd do well as a 3rd option or off ball and isn't good enough to lead your team alone deep except that 1 run.

-1

u/dunkerjunker 3d ago

Dejounte is more well rounded. Very good defense, excellent play maker and shot taker.

18

u/CoachDT [CHI] Brian Scalabrine 4d ago

He's also just better.

-4

u/TatumBrownWhite Celtics 3d ago

Better at building a team around sure, which player would I rather have on the Nuggets for example?

6

u/maemikemae Hawks 3d ago

That’s one of the worst teams you could have used to make your point. Trae would definitely work better with Jokic than Dejounte would.

-2

u/TatumBrownWhite Celtics 3d ago

Yeah if you want to totally ignore the defensive end of the court… good luck defending any 1/5 PnR with Trae and Jokic

5

u/maemikemae Hawks 3d ago

Dejounte wasn’t very good at defense this year. He was supposed to be but he wound up being a massive disappointment on that end. Maybe he’ll be better at it again on a new team but I wouldn’t count on him being some defensive specialist. Meanwhile Trae has steadily improved his defense a little bit while having to shoulder running the offense. Trae still is a bad defender and has a long way to go but he wasn’t much worse than Murray last year (and was arguably better).

Trae eclipses Murray on pretty much everything offensively aside from midrange shots and rebounding, neither of which I think a team with Jokic would weigh heavier than everything else Trae does better. Murray shares all of Traes most frustrating traits offensively (going to iso hero ball and shooting the team out of games when cold) but with much worse shot selection and playmaking.

Trae’s biggest strength is his playmaking and a team with him and Jokic would be hard to scheme against defensively because it’d open up the court so much. Having 2 of the best passers in the league being your PG and Center would be huge. Murray is good but he wouldn’t give that kinda upside on either side of the ball.

2

u/TatumBrownWhite Celtics 3d ago

I guess we’ll see with Trae next year, I’m curious to see how far he can take this team now that it’s much more aligned to his strengths.

4

u/Stealth100 [MEM] Marc Gasol 3d ago

He’s also the best player on the team 🤷🏼‍♂️

2

u/MumenriderPaulReed69 76ers 3d ago

Doc fucking up that playoff series (along with Ben) really gave the hawks unrealistic expectations huh

2

u/szobossz Mavericks 4d ago

yes. incredibly close with nepo baby of the ownership who is running the ship. this was reported 2-3 years ago but keeps getting ignored

-10

u/RUSHtheRACKS Thunder 4d ago

Would you make this same comment if he left? Exactly

12

u/GotKarprar Mavericks 4d ago

What kind of stupid ass comment is this. Obviously he wouldn’t say he was never going to be traded if he was traded

-2

u/RUSHtheRACKS Thunder 4d ago

Exactly

2

u/GotKarprar Mavericks 4d ago

Better question is if the guy was saying he would never be traded BEFORE

-1

u/RUSHtheRACKS Thunder 4d ago

Yeah it's just low hanging fruit to make a comment like that now.