After a week of speculation that seemed like a month, the San Antonio Spurs have finally agreed to terms with the Atlanta Hawks on a Dejounte Murray trade.
Ultimately, all the rumors ended up leading to this moment. Now the beloved Seattle native finds a new home in Atlanta, suddenly part of an All-Star backcourt with Trae Young and a real shot at making playoff noise.
If the Derrick White trade was a signal that the Spurs were ready for a full rebuild, this move shouts from the rooftops that this organization is ready for a complete tear-down and build-up. Before giving my quick take on the trade just an hour after it was announced, let's look at the terms of the deal.
Sources: The Spurs are trading Dejounte Murray to Atlanta for Danilo Gallinari, three first-round draft picks and a draft swap.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2022
After many Spurs fans were hoping for a combination of young talent and draft picks in return for their All-Star, what the team eventually got was an expiring contract, a first-round pick that could possibly not convey anytime soon, and and two future unprotected first-round picks.
My gut reaction is it strikes me as a terrible deal for San Antonio, but the 2025 and 2027 picks being unprotected is not nothing.
The 2025 and 2027 first-rounders are unprotected ATL first-round picks, per league source. https://t.co/6M1PAaCfQ8
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 29, 2022
In fact, Zach Lowe seems to think this kind of return is unheard of nowadays with how valuable picks are, particularly from teams with an uncertain trajectory.
Teams are very, very hesitant to do this. They often fight for even top-1 protection. The CHA pick is middling/lotto-protected, but the rest is about as much draft equity (maybe more) as SAS could have ever anticipated getting. Even pushing to 2025/27 (and not 2023/2025) matters https://t.co/J5eRNuCadu
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 29, 2022
Did the Spurs get enough value for Dejounte Murray?
Maybe this will change in the coming days and weeks, but as a fan first and writer second, I don't really understand this. Maybe that's because I was hoping to see a return to the playoffs more immediately than in two-plus years. It just seems like going from finding your star and leader one season to moving him the next seems counter-productive.
Even trading for a haul that included four first-round draft picks seemed iffy to me. After all, draft picks are always a crapshoot while we know what Dejounte can do on the court.
Ultimately, it appears the max that Murray would likely command in 2024 could have played a big part in why this deal got done -- that and the fact that the Spurs are trusting themselves to nail every draft in the near future. After all, they now have 23 picks to use or trade over the next six years.
San Antonio is stacked with draft picks for the next six years.
— Dylan Hunter Carter (@DylanHCarter) June 29, 2022
2023: 2 firsts, 1 second
2024: 1 first, 2 seconds
2025: 3 firsts, 2 seconds
2026: 1 first, 1 swap, 2 seconds
2027: 2 firsts, 2 seconds
2028: 1 first, 1 swap, 2 seconds
Are 23 picks a silver lining?
Maybe a reporter's recent theory that trading Murray means the Spurs are tanking for French sensation Victor Wembanyama could be true after all. Unfortunately, the 2023 pick via Charlotte from Atlanta is top-16 protected, meaning it won't give the Spurs another lottery shot at him in next year's NBA Draft.
Charlotte retains the pick if it’s in the top 16 in 2023, then it’s a 2024 pick that only conveys if outside the top 14, then a 2025 pick that only conveys if outside the top 14, the a couple of second rounders. Net: Spurs won’t get a lottery pick from it
— Kevin Froboese (@frobo5) June 29, 2022
But couldn't the Spurs have gotten a similar deal after this upcoming season? After all, this doesn't seem like a "Jrue-Holiday"-type package to me, as was originally rumored. Apparently, some within the Spurs' the front office saw more value in building from the ground-up than building around Dejounte.
In the end, this is going to be a decision that could end up backfiring big-time depending on how the rest of Murray's career plays out and how San Antonio drafts going forward.
Again, maybe this will change in time depending on how the rest of the offseason goes, but I can't help but think this could be a choice the Spurs end up regretting.