Atlanta went on the road tonight and played their worst game of the season, losing 150-116 to the Pacers. It was a dismal performance from start to finish for the Hawks and now they will try to erase this game when they play the Magic on Sunday.
Throughout the day, trade rumors were swirling around the Hawks. After the game, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder addressed a question from the AJC’s Lauren Williams about the rumors going around on social media, and here was his response:
“I really like our team and whatever… there is always chatter and rumors and things like that. Like I said, I am not gonna comment on those things.”
The numbers from the first half of this game are staggering and not in a good way for the Hawks. Atlanta shot 38% from the field and 25% from three. Murray did have 17 points, but Young had only five points on 2-12 shooting. He missed his first seven shots of the game.
Indiana shot 70.5% from the floor and 56.3% from three. Four Pacers were in double-digits and Indiana was scoring 1.47 points per possession and had an 81.3 true shooting percentage.
No, that is not a typo.
After the game, head coach Quin Snyder talked about the start of the game and if he wanted to attribute any of it to effort:
“I always hesitate to talk about lack of effort. We needed to run back harder, even early in the game and that urgency that you need against these guys in transition. That started early where… you don’t have a man, you just have to find someone when they are pushing the ball and that happened to us both on misses where we had trouble converting early but it happened to us on made field goals as well.”
Earlier today, Yahoo Sports Jake Fischer had this to say about Murray:
“The premier point guard on the market before the Feb. 8 trade deadline may be Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray, a former All-Star whom the Hawks have made widely available, according to league sources, two years after trading three first-round picks to acquire Murray from San Antonio.
There are questions, to be sure, about whether Murray’s fit would be ideal next to another ball dominant lead like Brunson, as Murray’s pairing with Hawks All-Star Trae Young hasn’t brought the dividends Atlanta once imagined. Yet Murray’s four-year, $114 million extension that begins in 2024-25 does make him an intriguing trade target for any team with backcourt questions. We’ll see just how preemptively front offices move this winter before harsher tax penalties kick into effect next season as part of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. Future picks and value contracts such as Murray’s might become greater trade commodities than league personnel anticipated.”
Then this afternoon, Bleacher Reports Chris Haynes said that the Lakers and the 76ers are teams to watch for Murray and that he thinks Murray is going to be traded by the deadline.
It certainly seems that the Hawks are exploring the option of trading for Murray.
Haynes mentioned that the Lakers likely don’t have enough to trade for Murray and mentioned Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura as possible trade assets.
One of the reasons that the Hawks are exploring trades for Murray is the weird fit with Young in the backcourt. Murray is a better defender than Young but is not as good as some think he is and still has his struggles on that end. However, if you think that is a bad fit, the Hawks adding D’Angelo Russell would be a terrible fit. Russell is a terrible defender and would not bring the Hawks anything of value. Atlanta needs to add bigger pieces that can defend around Young and Russell is the furthest thing from that.
One piece that would fit on the Hawks roster is Jarred Vanderbilt, but he cannot be traded until the summer.
Other pieces that the Lakers have are rotational pieces that would be fine off the bench, but Murray is going to bring back some real value in trade. Murray has a favorable contract and is a good player. The Hawks could do better than getting Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Max Christie, or Cam Reddish.
In short, if the Hawks want to get a deal done that involves Dejounte Murray, there are better options than the Lakers. It is not out of the question that a third team could get involved that gives the Hawks some of the assets they are going to want in a Murray trade. The Lakers could provide some supplementary pieces like Hachimura, Christie, or Vincent while another team provides picks, but I still think that is a long shot.
Fischer did have more to say about the potential plan for the Hawks, including if they might trade for Raptors forward Pascal Siakam:
“The Hawks are certainly open for business, with plenty of long-term deals to be moved. Of late, Atlanta has informed numerous teams the only untouchable players on the Hawks’ roster are Young and rising third-year forward Jalen Johnson, sources said. Just watch Johnson’s behind-the-back dribble and flush in transition against Oklahoma City on Wednesday, or his pacing, passing and shooting ability at his size, and you’ll understand why Hawks figures are so bullish on the 22-year-old’s upside at a broad and bouncy 6-9.
Atlanta owes its 2025 first-round selection to San Antonio as part of the haul that landed Murray, so there’s plenty of sense for the Hawks, currently 14-19, to weigh selling some of its veteran contributors, incorporating a lottery pick alongside Young and Johnson, then stepping back toward Atlanta’s bigger goal of competing in the playoffs under head coach Quin Snyder next season. Atlanta has been one of the more active teams on the phones across the league, sources said. And that seller’s path becoming more likely has league personnel no longer considering the Hawks as a prominent potential landing spot for Toronto’s other trade-deadline darling, Pascal Siakam, now that the Raptors ultimately moved on from Anunoby.”
It would appear that the Hawks are gearing towards reworking the roster. This would be a drastic shift from going and trading for Murray a couple of summers ago, but it is the position the Hawks find themselves in.
Things are starting to heat up and the next four weeks are going to be interesting for the direction of the franchise.
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