Trae Young, Dejounte Murray get candid about on-court fit, Hawks trade rumors

Atlanta Hawks stars Dejounte Murray and Trae Young have a bond that transcends basketball.

The two made that clear in the latest installment of Young’s “From The Point” podcast, in which their personal and basketball relationship quickly became the subject.

A partnership borne out of mutual desire has not beared the fruit that anyone had hoped, with several factors contributing to back-to-back Play-In Tournament appearances. They are on track for fewer wins than the previous season for the second consecutive year.

Through it all, that bond remains. But what do they say about their fit on the court?

“It's beyond basketball when it comes to our relationship with me,” Young said on the episode which dropped on April 8. “I think relationships can always be better if your team's winning and things like that, and juices are flowing. But I think it's there's certain relationships that you have that are just deeper than basketball.

“He's one of those guys that I mean it's forever deeper than that, so I have a good relationship with him.

“All this other stuff don't matter as much, you know what I'm saying? We're trying to win every game we can. But there's a lot of stuff we can control and things that we can't. And so we just got to focus on the main thing. And so for our relationship, that ain't never going to change.”

Dejounte Murray dismisses ‘BS’ trade rumors

Murray echoed the sentiments about their connection and addressed speculation that the front office could break the All-Star duo up this offseason. He also made a notable point about their fit.

“We're two point guards. Let's just make that clear: two point guards,” Murray said. “Obviously, he established more to me in this league. He came into a great role where I came in a different role. Everybody's situations different, and people are going to do all the stuff they do on the internet. They have to do that. They can't say just good because the bad stuff sells. [It’s] the bad stuff that make any of us go read. Not too many people want to read, ‘Oh, this is the good thing that was put out. The negativity is the stuff that sells. 

“When I see just all the BS – ‘trade this guy’ or ‘trade that guy’ – it means nothing. It's somebody behind their computer. They could be at Starbucks right now or they could be in a classroom, wherever they're at. I'm not the GM, he's not the GM. I'm not the coach he's not the coach. So for me that stuff mean nothing. We great. We communicate. It's authentic.

“At the end of the day, that stuff is that stuff. And when you keep the outside noise the outside noise, it doesn't bother you so it don't bother me at all.”

Hawks assistant coach fueled trade speculation

Murray and Young have shown their respective ceilings at the helm of the offense. The challenge for Head Coach Quin Snyder is determining a way to maximize them together, something that loomed as an issue from the outset of the paring.

Young’s finger injury and subsequent surgery robbed Snyder of that opportunity, though Young said he is hopeful to return this coming week ahead of the postseason.

And Hawks assistant Mike Brey, who is close with Snyder, suggested a breakup is possible.

“The key was to get Quin, and to get a quality coach, and a proven guy – and [the front office] got that done – and then, kind of evaluate where you’re at,” Brey said on Sirius XM’s “The Starting Lineup” on March 13. “I think there were some trade things that were thoroughly discussed before the deadline, but nothing materialized. 

“Nobody wanted to panic and just give away stuff. You gotta take a step back and look at it. But you got the two guards. Are those two guys gonna play together, Murray and Young? Is that something you want to keep moving forward with?”