The Atlanta Hawks' Dejounte Murray-Trae Young experiment didn't work out, but the aftermath of it did, at least for Atlanta. They received Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller, and two first-round picks from the Pelicans last summer. Who is winning that trade? The Hawks.
Murray played 31 games for New Orleans this past season, averaging 17.5 points per game (his lowest since the 2020-21 season when he was still with the Spurs) on 39.3% shooting from the field and 29.9% from three. His season ended in January after he ruptured his Achilles. Murray will miss most — if not all — of next season.
Meanwhile, Daniels won the KIA NBA Most Improved Player award in his first season in Atlanta, averaging a career-high 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and an absurd 3.0 steals per game, shooting 49.3% from the field and 34% from deep. His value shot up (and then some).
He finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting after he led the league with 229 steals. He's called "The Great Barrier Thief" for a reason.
Hawks receiving Dyson Daniels in Dejounte Murray trade was a major win
Daniels, who was the No. 8 pick in the 2022 draft, built his reputation on the defensive end before being traded to Atlanta. He turned into the scorer the Hawks needed alongside Trae Young, as he averaged 8.3 more points per game in his first season in Atlanta than he did in New Orleans the previous season.
The 22-year-old improved tremendously over the past season, but the growth won't stop there. Daniels is only going to get better, and luckily for him, he'll get to do so in Atlanta for a team that will make a lot of noise next season. You can't say the same for New Orleans, which benefits the Hawks, considering the Pelicans sent them an unprotected 2026 first-round pick.
New Orleans seems to have an affinity for doing Atlanta favors. You'd think by now the Pelicans would know better than to do business with the Hawks, but they haven't figured that out yet (thank goodness!).
Maybe Murray's return, whenever that will be, will play in the Pelicans' favor, but their roster construction is so poor that New Orleans needs a lot more than a resurgence from its point guard.
The Pelicans would've been better off not doing the trade, but you can say that about the majority of the decisions that the organization makes.