Peachtree Hoops: Rumor Roundup: could Dejounte Murray be on the trade block?

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Hawks have never been strangers to the rumor mill during the current regime. During the summer of 2022, there was a sense that the Hawks needed to acquire a second high level player to pair with Trae Young. A trade for Dejounte Murray quickly materialized, and a year later he agreed on an extension that could keep him under contract until 2028.

Similarly, after years of speculation surrounding John Collins, he was dealt to the Utah Jazz this past summer. This is a Hawks organization not shy about trading someone away even after agreeing on an extension and before said extension has kicked in (see: Huerter, Kevin).

Well now, there seems to be smoke building surrounding Dejounte Murray’s availability in the open market in advance of the February trade deadline. Back in June prior to the extension, I wrote about how Yahoo’s Jake Fischer signaled that Murray was among those that could be had in a trade involving Dallas, Toronto, or other inquiring teams.

The Hawks continued to be described as one of the more active teams in trade dialogue around the NBA. Hunter, John Collins and All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, in addition to starting center Clint Capela, continue to be mentioned by team personnel as viable trade candidates, with Hunter appearing to be involved in most of the Hawks’ possibilities entering draft night.

Now, in a recent report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Scotto passes along information surrounding the New York Knick’s possible interest in Murray.

The Knicks are among several teams who’ve expressed exploratory trade interest in Hawks guard Dejounte Murray, league sources told HoopsHype.

Murray can’t be traded until Jan. 9 after agreeing to a four-year, $120 million contract extension with the Hawks in July. However, given Atlanta’s sluggish start to the season as a fringe Play-In team following Jalen Johnson’s injury, nothing can be considered off the table for the Hawks in addition to usual trade suspects De’Andre Hunter and Clint Capela.

And now today, Murray being a play for another storied franchise comes from a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and FanDuel TV.

"One more player to keep an eye on I'm told, a potential target for the Lakers, Hawks guard Dejounte Murray."@ShamsCharania on potential trade targets for the Lakers.

: https://t.co/wdT8I0ST8g pic.twitter.com/xtY6gCF2FO

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) December 26, 2023

As mentioned above, Murray isn’t eligible to be traded until January 9th, so these rumors will just have to swirl until at least then — and most likely well beyond.

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