Dejounte Murray & Trae Young Here To Stay For Hawks

Atlanta is bringing back their guard, as the Hawks extend Dejounte Murray and sign him to a four-year, veteran maximum worth $120 million that also includes a player option, according to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The 26-year-old point guard was traded from San Antonio back in June 2022 last offseason for Danilo Gallinari, now with Washington Wizards, and three first-round picks. Hawks also received Jock Landale, now on the Houston Rockets, and swapped picks in 2026 with the Spurs.

Due to the NBA’s new extension rules, Atlanta was able to make a deal like this under a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA now allows teams to offer 140% of the player’s previous salary or the estimated average salary as the starting salary of a new extension, as it was previously only 120%. Murray doesn’t fall under the super-max category due to eligibility, so he was limited to a 40% raise in the first season of a new deal. Now, the All-Star is slated to make a little over $18 million in guaranteed salary for 2023, as the incentives in the deal are TBD as of now.

Last season, the Hawks traded for Murray in hopes of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals again. However, that didn’t happen, as their 2022-2023 season was disappointing even at 41-41. The previous season, Atlanta went 43-39, and even the year before that, went 41-31. This past season, the Hawks were bounced 2-4 in the opening round by the Boston Celtics, and the previous year, it was the Miami Heat 1-4. Atlanta will look to recapture their 2020-2021 season magic, as they made it to the Eastern Conference finals before getting beaten by Milwaukee Bucks 2-4.

But with this new extension, the duo of Murray and superstar Trae Young will continue to grow, as they make up one of the better and younger pairings in the NBA. With Young in their first year together, he averaged 20.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 6.1 APG while shooting 34.4% from the 3PT range, displaying his value as an elite two-way player. The former first-rounder from 2016 also is the second player in franchise history to average at least 20.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG for Atlanta.

Murray had one year left on the previous contract he signed with the Spurs and was slated to become a free agent next offseason, but decided to stay with the Hawks. Now it’s up to Atlanta to build around him and Young, so hopefully their stint in the playoffs is longer than previous years.

Article by Andrew Kim

Projected Summer, 2023 Graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Media Studies/ Journalism from Mercy College.