The Atlanta Hawks have taken a big step.
After much speculation about what the Hawks would do this offseason, Atlanta traded Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, and two first-round picks. This shows that the Hawks will continue to try to build a winning team around Trae Young. Although no big name returned to the Hawks as part of the deal, I think they did well to get Daniels back along with two first-round picks. Due to the deal with the Spurs, the Hawks did not have any picks of their own in 2025 and 2027.
I’m not the only one who thinks the Hawks got a good deal. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton gave the Hawks a B+ on the deal with the Pelicans:
“The Hawks were forced to trade one of their guards after realizing last season that Murray and Trae Young were far less effective together than when they led a team alone.
I would have preferred to keep Murray, who signed a contract extension last year that was below market value and pays him less than the average point guard. (Immanuel Quickley, for example, agreed to a deal on Friday that pays him more than Murray over the next four seasons.)
At the same time, other teams have access to Atlanta’s payroll and may have valued Murray higher than Young on the transfer market for the same reasons. If the Hawks wanted to trade Murray, it would be a strong trade that would net them two first-round picks and a recent lottery pick and exempt them from the luxury tax.”
In the summer of 2022, Atlanta traded for Spurs All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, spending a ton of future draft capital. Murray was supposed to work alongside Young and improve the Hawks’ perimeter defense, as well as give Atlanta another game-winning ball handler.
It’s safe to say that hasn’t been the case since Murray came to Atlanta. Murray hasn’t been a bad player for the Hawks, but he hasn’t been the defensive cornerstone they hoped for when they signed him. He’s been a good player in the locker room and a good leader for the franchise, but the Hawks are going in a different direction, as evidenced by this transfer.
It became increasingly clear that the Hawks’ roster was not built to win with Trae Young and that they needed to make adjustments. Atlanta’s goal this season was to improve defense, get bigger and have better defenders on offense, and so far they’re doing just that.
While this transfer may not mean a big name for Atalanta, I think there are some useful players that will help them get closer to their goal. The best thing about the return from New Orleans in my opinion was Daniles, a young player but with the size and athleticism that Atlanta was looking for in its defense.
Our own Rohan Raman analyzed Daniel’s potential suitability for the Hawks:
“I’m most excited to see what Dyson Daniels can bring to this lineup. He’s a 6’10 sophomore guard with a 6’10 wingspan that he uses exceptionally well as a defender. He was 13th among all NBA defenders in steals, recording 1.4 per game, and can defend on the perimeter. I’m especially excited about his fit alongside Young, as Young’s improvements on defense often go unnoticed due to his physical limitations. Now Young has a backcourt partner who can make up for some of those defensive mistakes. He also processes the play quickly and makes nice passes. While Daniels needs to improve his shooting (he’s only shooting 31% from beyond the arc on limited volume), he’s young and can easily grow into a better shooter. I’d bet he’ll have an easier time developing in that direction in Atlanta, as Young will demand so much attention on defense, forcing shots to slack off Daniels.”
Daniels isn’t the only player the Hawks have signed so far this offseason to help them achieve those goals. The Hawks spent the first pick on Zaccharie Risacher in this week’s NBA Draft, and on draft night, Hawks general manager Landry Fields talked about his defense and shooting as key reasons why the Hawks selected him:
“Well, you start with what you see and that is he’s 6’10 and he has the ability to play on both sides of the ball, he has the ability to defend, is a versatile defender, a really good shooter and a high IQ type of player. You know, the development he’s made up to this point is fantastic, he’s only 19, he’ll be 19 all next year and I’ve consistently mentioned in the past all the important qualities for us about those types of players and who we ultimately want in the building and he possesses a significant amount of them.”
Risacher is a 6-foot-8, 200-pound winger who fills a big void in Atlanta. He is versatile and has performed well in his league’s playoffs since the lottery. He is a plug-and-play forward who would fit the Hawks as a starting No. 2 or No. 3 player.
Does this mean the Hawks are done adding to their team? No, it isn’t. It also wouldn’t surprise anyone if they traded Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter. If they traded Capela, it would open up the opportunity for Onyeka Okongwu to start at center and have Nance as his backup. Daniels could either start alongside Young or come off the bench. We’ll have to wait and see if Risacher gets into the starting lineup right away.
Atlanta needed to rebuild their roster around Young and add more talent around him to maximize the team. I think they are heading in the right direction so far, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
