The Atlanta Hawks took on the Utah Jazz with assistant coach Nick Van Exel running the show. But Hawks head coach Nate McMillan stopped by and gave his take on the blockbuster trade that brought All-Star guard Dejounte Murray to Atlanta. The Hawks sent forward Danilo Gallinari along with three first-round picks and a pick swap to get the deal done.
That price tag pales in comparison to the one that the Jazz got back for Rudy Gobert.
Many familiar faces from the big club showed up including second-year forward Jalen Johnson who will not participate this year following a “non-surgical procedure” this offseason.
The cameos also included Murray and Trae Young, both of whom also spoke on their newfound situation and budding partnership. One that has drawn some mixed reviews for its projected effectiveness and logic.
Atlanta Hawks HC gets honest on blockbuster Dejounte Murray trade
McMillan joined the broadcast crew of Matt Winer and Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas who the Hawks head coach played and coached against. Winer acknowledged the cost of acquiring Murray. But he also acknowledged that such a move seems like a no-brainer before asking McMillan for his thoughts.
It was clear that this was a move many within the organization wanted, including its most important on-court figure in Young.
“He’s a two-way player and a guy that plays downhill. We have, with him in the backcourt with Trae…Trae really wanted us to make that move. We saw that we could get him. Trae really wanted him to be a part of our team. And I told Trae, ’what this is going to do is allow us to play you off the ball a little bit more’. Real similar to and Dumars. You got two guards that now can play with the ball, play off the ball. That combination, the fact that he can defend multiple positions, allows us to play faster.”
That is certainly a lofty comparison even though it is being used loosely. Thomas and Dumars led the Bad Boys Pistons teams to back-to-back championships in the 1989 and 1990 seasons. The Hawks would love to have even half of that success with this group.
Coming off of a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals, last season was a letdown for management as well as ownership.
The changes we have seen were telegraphed by those same disgruntled decision-makers.
"Phenomenal player. All-Star. Brings a level of toughness and defense, especially at the point of attack for us with his length and versatility. ... This is a great get for us."@ATLHawks GM @landryfields talks to @BobRathbunTV about what Dejounte Murray brings to the franchise. pic.twitter.com/MbafvStmr3
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) July 1, 2022
Thomas said that he liked how the Hawks realized they needed to get better and went about doing so. He then asked how they will play differently offensively.
But McMillan flipped it and revealed the reason the Hawks targeted Murray.
“The focus was to improve defensively. Bringing in Murray allows us to do that. His length at the guard position will allow him to play against the top wings. He can do a good job of keeping the ball in front. But he can chase as well. That was the thing that we felt we needed to improve on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, he gives us another weapon that can play with the ball, play without the ball and we love that combination.”
Murray ranked 70th percentile defensible this past season, per Cleaning The Glass, and was in the 94th percentile the year before.
There were only three Hawks – Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Solomon Hill who was traded mid-season – who ranked higher in efficiency differential.
Thomas also asked McMillan how he felt the team stacked up with the rest of the East.
“If I can be honest with you, last year we came in as fat cats. We had some success and had really good momentum coming into the season. We had a few guys that had some procedures done before the season last year. Got off to a slow start. COVID hit us and we never really established any type of style of play. The mindset has to change. That was one of the things that we talked about. Miami showed us that we had to improve on both ends of the floor in the playoffs. They were much more physical than we were. Defensively, they are a team that is playing today’s defense where 1-through-5 will switch. And you have to be able to find that matchup and win the matchup. Really our only matchup was Trae on the perimeter and they did a good job of really guarding him and loading up to him…really put a lot of pressure on Trae to do a lot for us. Adding Murray to our lineup, that’s going to help us.”
The Hawks are hoping to re-sign Murray after the 2023-24 offseason.
For now, though, the feeling is all good as the excitement builds over how this will diversify their attack on both ends of the floor.