Dyson Daniels’ performance in the Atlanta Hawks’ season-opening victory over the Brooklyn Nets was encouraging enough to boost even the most optimistic outlooks. And he made the Hawks’ decision to acquire him look even better.
Daniels was a key part of the Dejounte Murray trade, and while his performance not only raises the Hawks’ ceiling, it is not the biggest reason the Hawks’ have officially won the trade.
They did not win because of the premium draft capital they received either.
Instead, the Hawks officially won the Dejounte Murray trade for an otherwise unfortunate reason with Murray fracturing his hand in the New Orleans Pelicans’ season opener. He is “sidelined indefinitely” in recovery, per ESPN’s Shams Charania on October 23.
Murray had 14 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds in the Pelicans’ eventual 123-111 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Recovery times from hand fractures can range from weeks to months.
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook, then of the Los Angeles Clippers, returned to the floor 25 days after injuring his hand – 22 days after surgery – in March (last season). Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry missed three months in 2019.
The Hawks would have been left without their second-best player and few options to pivot had they held on to Murray.
This is far from a victory lap. Injuries suck and can happen to anyone.
We wish Murray a speedy and full recovery. Murray played hard and expanded his game while with the Hawks. They also had to accept pennies on the dollar in terms of return.
The Hawks did well to land Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. (DNP-CD in the opener) and two potentially high-value draft picks from the Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers for Murray. But they gave up control of their own draft picks to acquire Murray in 2022.
That has left them somewhat forced to remain competitive.
Hawks’ Dejounte Murray trade can still get better
Anything short of getting those picks back cannot undo the initial Murray trade. But the Hawks managed to get a relative haul despite prevalent speculation about their intention to break up their star backcourt duo.
It also reflects well on Hawks general manager Landry Fields that they managed to get what they did amid stricter CBA regulations for luxury tax teams.
Murray is not the only injured Pelican.
Trey Murphy is working his way back from a hamstring injury. How well the Pelicans navigate their absences is significant because the team has already been mired in trade speculation since the offseason.
Any deal that could make the team worse in the interim could trigger a rebuild or at least retool which would likely bleed into next season and maybe even the year after.
That is where the Hawks stand to benefit the most.
The 2027 first-round pick owed to them by the Pelicans will either be New Orleans’ own or that of the Milwaukee Bucks, with the Hawks getting the least favorable of the two so long as it does not fall within the top four picks.
Milwaukee could still have Giannis Antetokounmpo then. But the rest of their roster figures to look very different.
Both the Bucks and Pels could be bad enough that the Hawks get a top-10 pick either way.