Hawks in position to benefit from potential 'gold mine' thanks to Lakers

Winners and losers from the Atlanta Hawks’ trade sending Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans will be much clearer at the end of the season.

Murray has made it clear he was happy about the trade, perhaps due to the tumultuousness of his two-year tenure. However, Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz believes the Hawks may emerge as the ultimate victors of the trade.

And it is all thanks to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Don't be surprised if the Hawks come away as the winners in the deal,” Swartz wrote on September 7. “Atlanta received a pair of first-round picks, Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and E.J. Liddell (who has since been traded to the Phoenix Suns for David Roddy) in exchange for Murray, a move that cleared a lot of future salary off the books and raised the ceiling of the franchise overall.

“The most important part of the trade for the Hawks was the inclusion of a 2025 first-round pick from New Orleans, one that's actually coming from the Los Angeles Lakers that was originally sent to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis trade.”

New Orleans’ decision to defer the pick until 2025 is the key here. Without it, the Pelicans would have been left to offer the Milwaukee Bucks’ first-round picks through 2027, which figure to be in the back of the lottery at worst with Giannis Antetokounmpo still going strong. 

The Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick is protected for the top four picks and will change hands multiple times with the Brooklyn Nets at the end of the line.

The Pelicans have swap rights in 2026 and own the Bucks’ 2027 first-round pick outright.

New Orleans also had its own picks in 2025, 2026, and 2028 through 2030. But with a core presumably built around 24-year-old Zion Williamson and bolstered with 27-year-old Murray, there could be a greater chance their pick is worse than the Lakers.

Hawks need Lakers stars to act their age in 2024-25

Swartz notes that Lakers stars Anthony Davis (31) and LeBron James (turns 40 in December) were “abnormally” healthy in 2023-24.

Both appeared in at least 71 games but had not reached even 60 appearances since 2019-20.

“This is a potential gold mine of a pick for Atlanta,” Swartz wrote. “Tack on another first-round pick coming in 2027, the two-way potential of 21-year-old Dyson Daniels and the insurance of Nance as a do-it-all rotation big and we'll look back at this trade being a huge win for the Hawks.”

Going back from 2022 to the 2019 NBA Draft, when the Hawks acquired the rights to De’Andre Hunter – the No. 4 overall pick by the Lakers – LA’s picks have been (in order) No. 8, No. 22, and No. 28.

The Pelicans used that No. 8 pick to select Daniels, a potential key piece for the new-look Hawks. His age also means the Hawks essentially acquired two first-round picks from the Lakers.

LA also selected Mo Wagner with the No. 25 overall pick in 2018.

Before that though? It was three straight No. 2 overall picks in Lonzo Ball 2017), Brandon Ingram (2016), and D’Angelo Russell (2015) and a No. 7 overall pick in Julius Randle (2014) giving a more optimistic backdrop for the Trae Young and the Hawks relative to the incoming pick.