We do have quite the backlog of moves to get to, so we’ll start off with the one that pretty much started the offseason trading season, and that was the trade of Dejounte Murray (totally expected) to the Pelicans (totally not expected) for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller and some picks of which we don’t care too much about for our content purposes.
So let’s handle the Hawks side of this because it seems that they would be the fastest fliers, therefore something something Hawks. (Hawk Screech!) You can either make the noise or yell it out, your choice. So look, obvious is obvious, the best player in the deal is of course Murray, but there might be some fantasy value coming back to Atlanta if you squint really hard and already have experience as an expert squinter. Larry Nance Jr. and Dyson Daniels provide some value in different ways, but neither played more than 22 minutes per game and while I wouldn’t expect that to change too much in the 24-25 season for Nance Jr., but it could be another story with Daniels. Maybe.
If we are looking at this optimistically (you always should!), Dyson I think quickly becomes the de factor on-ball defender for NOLA despite being on the same team as Herb Jones. Yes, I believe he’s already an elite defender at age 21 (third in the league in steals per 36) and that will get him the minutes. What he needs to develop is some offensive game, and if we see some growth there, we could see an upper-tier 3&D threat with volume minutes arrive. Granted, the offense is a big if, but the defense already plays enough to where you should keep any eye out.
E.J. Liddell, if it works out, could be a Lou Williams type, a bench tempo-pusher that can shoot and score, but I’m less convinced. Definitely a work in progress. Cody Zeller has high marks in athleticism and has high defensive IQ, which is good enough to keep this big man on your back-up radar, but he’s still raw in a lot of ways. I noticed the scouting reports often mentioned LaMarcus Aldridge as a comp, I’m much more measured with saying maybe the in-between of that and Mason Plumlee.
We won’t delve deep into the mechanics of why Dejounte Murray never fit with the Hawks; some of it was probably the way the team was built, the way they played on the court, and perhaps a bit of Murray’s defense bona fides not traveling with him from San Antonio, but we’re still talking about a dynamic on-the-ball play-maker who found a lot of success at the mid-range or driving to the basket. However, just an average beyond-the-arc shooter by most metrics (36.6% from three on just 37.9% attempt rate), he wasn’t really an active catch-and-shoot off-ball player with the Hawks, which could be an issue with noted volume-handlers in Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. While there are scenarios out there where perhaps Ingram is still moved before the season, I expect him to be at the 5 (strange times) and to be there in the starting lineup.
Still, after coming off a career-high 22.5 points per game to go along with 6.4 assists and 5.3 rebounds, it’s hard to argue that this won’t be a great offense that might work well together, but it won’t be a dynamic one either, adding another low-volume shooter with a team that was one of the bottom in that category. In the end, the needle doesn’t really move and Murray continues to be a great value option at the guard position where other more expensive names aren’t all that far apart…
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.
