3 goals for new Atlanta Hawks star Dejounte Murray No. 2) Be named to the All-Defensive team.
So the Hawks went into the 2022 offseason looking for two traits in players that they needed to bring to the team. One was to bring a star to the franchise which they did in Murray. The other was to fix their perimeter defense which Murray also puts a tick in a box.
In just his second season, back in 2017-18, Murray was named to the NBA All-Defensive second team. This was historic as Murray was the youngest player to be named to an All-Defensive squad, breaking Koe Bryant’s mark set back in the year 2000.
Unfortunately for Murray and the Spurs, he missed the entirety of the 2018-19 NBA season due to injury. He tore his right anterior cruciate ligament which robbed him of some of the lateral movement needed to defend at the All-Defensive level.
Still, Murray is a tremendous defender and it is probable that the Spurs team, lacking any other stars has held him back from getting back to these heights. Having Clint Capela and Hunter in the starting lineup will certainly help push him back into contention for another All-Defensive nod.