Another exhilarating part of the Spurs' Dejounte Murray trade has been finalized

The San Antonio Spurs are exactly where they expected to be. The first-round pick from the Atlanta Hawks from the Dejounte Murray trade landed at No. 14, as it was expected to do.

The San Antonio Spurs have not always come away from trades covered in glory, but one that they got absolutely right was moving on from Dejounte Murray exactly when they did. It would have been tempting to hold onto the young All-Star guard, but the Spurs recognized they were not ready to contend and that he was worth more to them to "sell high" on the trade market than to hold onto him through a rebuilding phase.

When the Atlanta Hawks came calling, therefore, the Spurs were all-too-willing to negotiate a trade, one that brought a chest full of treasure back to the Alamo. Three first-round picks and a first-round swap was quite the haul for a player with a limited ceiling like Murray, and it certainly looked questionable from the start when you considered that the Hawks already had an All-Star point guard.

While one of the picks was a heavily-protected first from the Charlotte Hornets that never conveyed, the other three were all unprotected and sequential: the Spurs control the Hawks' draft for three years, with unprotected first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 sandwiching an unprotected swap in 2026.

It was a masterful bit of negotiating from the Spurs' front office, a bet that something wouldn't work out as Atlanta intended. If the Hawks were a top-end playoff team during this stretch, the Spurs would still get a pair of firsts, a totally fine worst-case scenario.

If the Hawks stumbled, however, as they certainly have, the upside of those picks skyrocketed. Unsurprisingly, the fit of two on-ball point guards did not work out in Atlanta, and they have already moved on from Murray. Yet the primary cost of the trade is yet to be paid out; in other words, the Hawks are without control of their draft for the next three years, and Murray will not have been on their roster for any of those three seasons.

The future is bright for the Dejounte Murray trade

There is an argument to be made that the Hawks are a team with upward mobility. Jalen Johnson is a budding star at forward, Dyson Daniels was the league's Most Improved Player and No. 1 pick Zaccherie Risacher came on late and looks like a long-term starter, if not more. Add in the solid Onyeka Okongwu and you have a young and strong core. This could be the last time the Hawks are in the lottery for the next three years.

The flip side of that argument is that the Hawks are relying on Trae Young, perhaps the league's most overrated star. He proved with Murray he cannot slide into an off-ball role of any kind, and while putting the ball in his hands drives good offense, it likely cannot drive great offense. Atlanta's ceiling is capped with Young at the helm, and he may agitate his way out of town -- or be Luka'd by the front office and sent packing.

That is all to come, however; for now the Spurs get to enjoy this year's draft pick and make a second lottery selection. They can pull the trigger on another young prospect to add to their core around Victor Wembanyama or include it in a trade for a third star to pair with Wemby and De'Aaron Fox.

Either way, they have a premium asset in hand thanks to the Dejounte Murray trade, and the final placement of that pick has finally been locked in. Now the real fun begins.