5 stars the Atlanta Hawks could trade Dejounte Murray for this summer

2) Mikal Bridges

When he first got traded to Brooklyn, Mikal Bridges went from a 3-and-D glue guy to a borderline All-Star. In his first 27 games with the Nets, Bridges averaged 26.1 points while shooting 47.5% from the field, 37.6% from three, and 89.4% from the free-throw line.

After he ended the 2022-23 season with an absolute bang, Bridges took a step back in his first full season with Brooklyn.

Bridges had to adjust to the meteoric rise of Cam Thomas, only posting 19.6 points per game while playing in all 82 contests. Thomas blossomed as a microwave scorer with close to a 12-point increase in nightly scoring, which caused Bridges to take somewhat of a back seat.

Brooklyn’s 32-50 record certainly didn’t help Bridges’ play, and he seemed a bit frustrated as the season wore on. 

Despite his letdown season, Bridges has a lot of winning basketball left in him. At 27 years old, Bridges is just entering his prime. The versatile forward can score the ball at an efficient rate and at all three levels, and he has showcased great defensive acumen throughout his career.

The former All-Defensive wing can provide Atlanta with a two-way presence at both the shooting guard and small forward positions. Bridges’ versatility as a scorer and defender makes him positionally interchangeable on the wing, which could allow Atlanta to roll out many different lineups.

Bridges’ point-of-action defense is no joke, and Murray’s defense has slowly declined since he became a Hawk. While Bridges doesn’t necessarily stand out as a better player than Murray, the Hawks might need to adopt an addition-by-subtraction approach when making changes to the roster. That starts with who they ship Dejounte Murray for.