New B/R Trade Proposal Sends Dejounte Murray To Brooklyn For Dorian Finney-Smith and A Pair Of First Round Picks

Jackson Caudell | May 8, 2024

Feb 29, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray (5) moves past Brooklyn / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA Draft Lottery is in four days and while it is a longshot, the Atlanta Hawks will be hoping to move into the top four and possibly even get the No. 1 pick in the draft. Their pre-draft position is 10th and they have a 13.9% chance to move into the top four of the draft and a 3% chance to get the No. 1 pick.

If they do land the No. 1 pick, should Atlanta trade it or take a player (Alex Sarr perhaps?). Bleacher Report Analyst Zach Buckley proposed a trade for the Hawks if they did get the No. 1 pick.

While there is a "growing belief in many corners of the league" that the Hawks would rather move Trae Young than Murray, per NBA insider Marc Stein, maybe landing the No. 1 pick would change their minds.

The trade: Dejounte Murray to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and two future first-round picks

"If Atlanta feels Alexandre Sarr is the top prospect on the board and agrees with B/R's Jonathan Wasserman that the French 7-footer has Jaren Jackson Jr.-like potential, perhaps the Hawks would see him as the ideal fit for Young.

Keeping Murray might be safer, since he is easier to build around. But keeping Young, arguably, offers the highest ceiling, as his blend of scoring and table-setting is more potent than anything Murray provides.

Young just leaks like an old faucet on defense, but perhaps a frontcourt rotation featuring Sarr, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu could cover that.

Finney-Smith would give Atlanta another three-and-D option on the wing, and it would gain two first-round picks to help cover any other problem areas. Package those with Clint Capela's sizable (and expiring) salary, and the Hawks should have enough to find Young a better-fitting backcourt partner."

While I would like the fit that Finney-Smith would provide on the Hawks, I think Atlanta could get more for Murray from other teams. The best assets that Brooklyn has are the draft picks it has gotten from Phoenix and Mikal Bridges, but it does not seem like the Nets are eager to deal Bridges anytime soon. If Atlanta decides to move Murray, I think that they will be looking for players back to retool around Trae Young, not a package centered around picks.

Atlanta is going to be one of the most interesting teams to watch this offseason. It seems likely that the backcourt duo of Murray and Trae Young is heading for a split and that Atlanta is going to retool around one of those players. There is a good chance that Atlanta will look much different by the time the new season tips off.