With less than 30 games left in the season and with future HOF player Kyrie Irving being traded to Dallas Mavs we need to look at the trade and compare the two. The Atlanta Hawks gave up 3 unconditional 1st round picks in 2023, 2025, And 2027 and pick swaps in 2024 and 2026. That means the spurs control the hawks draft for the next 5 seasons! Gallo was the player in the deal to make the money work. While gallo production will be missed, but did what we get in return warrant that much draft capital ? Dejounte Murray 20.6 ppg 5.5 rbpg and 6.3 apg and 1.7 steals per game.
I love Dejounte Murray game and his demeanor on the basketball court as a potential leader of this hawks team. (Not the best player, but best candidate to be the leader) As the season passes I’m not sure if giving up that much draft capital was worth it if you don’t improve your overall record/standing. When you see what the Mavs gave up to get Kyrie Irving it would seem that Dallas made a better trade than the Hawks on Paper! Kyrie is a HOF player and Dejounte is a All star alternate. Still a great addition but those are the numbers as they bare out. I do think Dejounte would fit better on the hawks vs Kyrie will with the mavs, but the draft capital the hawks gave up might be a Herschel Walker trade tbh.
If the hawks can turn the season around and become a top 4-5 team in the east with room to grow and they resign dejounte in the off season then it was worth it. If the Hawks barely make the play in and barely make the playoffs as the 8 seed and get bounced quickly then the trade was bad. Dejounte came to the Hawks ti gave a chance at a deep run in the playoffs. He could have stayed with the spurs to barely make the play in tournament! Imo we don’t have the coaching staff to maximize the talent on this roster. We just don’t tbh.
Now with the mavs they gave up a lot in player depth for a HOF player and picks that are 7 years down the road! I wouldn’t care about those picks either to get a future HOF player! The only issue is will Kyrie fit with Luka. Mom contrary to popular belief.Luka and Trae Young play awfully the same. They both dominate the ball for at least 16-18 seconds of the shot clock using the p&r system and when they pass you the ball you better be able to catch and shoot or catch a lob! People point back to when Kyrie played with Lebron when thinking about Kyrie being able to play off the ball.
The thing is unlike luka LeBron would give the ball up earlier in the possessions give Kyrie more time to operate his iso game. Luka doesn’t do that nor can luka play off the ball to the level of LeBron James. In summary I feel the mavs got the best DEAL on paper due to the draft picks being so far down the road and the mavs are in a win now situation. I don’t think the fit will work but we will see in the court. I do feel like the hawks paid a lot for Dejounte. The Hawks gave up more draft capital than the mavs who got a HOF player, but I feel the fit will be better in the long run.
What do you guys think? Agree or disagree? Please leave a comment and let’s have a healthy debate.