The NBA trade deadline is now just days away and Dejounte Murray remains a member of the Atlanta Hawks. The 27-year-old guard is having a good season during his second year in Atlanta but it may be best for the Hawks to move on from Murray.
Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer joined Trysta Krick on the Audacy original podcast “Heat Check” and shed some light on the latest NBA rumors surrounding Murray and the Hawks.
“I’ve heard a lot of cursory interest – like I heard Brooklyn, for example, they checked in. I don’t think the Nets really want to meet the Hawks’ asking price right now,” Fischer said (14:15 in player above). “The Hawks’ price is two first-round picks and a player, and if the player’s not someone they see as a long-term fit they don’t want that player to have any long-term salary.
“I don’t think the Nets want to pay that price. New York, I don’t think wants to pay that price. I think the Knicks would be happy to give a first for Dejounte Murray but that’s not where the Hawks stand right now.”
While a lot of teams would like to have Murray on their squad, one team sticks out in terms of both fit and ability to meet Atlanta’s asking price.
“I’ve heard Detroit linked there but the team that stands out to me the most from everything I’ve heard outside of LA has been Utah. The Jazz are an interesting team,” Fischer continued. “Just like Brooklyn, they could be a seller and a buyer, but unlike Brooklyn, while the Nets do have some picks coming back from Phoenix from the KD trade, the Jazz have like 11 first-round picks at their disposal.”
The Jazz currently own one first-round pick this year, three next year, two in 2026, four more in 2027, and two in 2028 for a total of 12 in the next five drafts. They could be more willing than other teams to give up two of them for some help in the short and long term.
Murray would also give the Jazz a dynamic that they’ve been missing.
“I think the Jazz know internally and people around the Jazz know that they have not been able to truly return to the level of the 9-3 start they had last season when Mike Conley was there because they don’t have that real veteran point guard who is just manipulating both sides of the floor like Mike Conley was doing for them,” Fischer said. “So, to me, I’d be very intrigued about the idea of adding – when you see Dejounte Murray for the first time in a while, which I did (Friday) night, the dude is so broad-shouldered, his arms are so long. He’s impressive. I know there’s been waxing and waning effort levels here as his name’s been in and out of the trade talk and that’s only human I think.
“But to me, you think about pairing Lauri Markkanen with a long-term guard on his timeline, they’re roughly the same age. I think Dejounte would be awesome in Brooklyn, too. If I was a member of the front office in Brooklyn or a member of the front office in Utah, I’d be pounding the table saying ‘We got to go get this guy.’ Even if the price is two first-round picks, I don’t think that’s that high, especially for the Jazz.”
Murray turned 27 in September and Markkannen turns 27 in May. They could form a formidable duo in Utah.
While Murray started his career in San Antonio, Fischer doesn’t think he could return to the Spurs despite recent rumblings.
“I’m not buying that one. I haven’t bought that one for a while,” he said. “I think there are a lot of agents and people around players, let’s say, that would love for their guy who’s a point guard to go to San Antonio and be the point guard next to Victor Wembanyama.”
The rumors will continue to swirl up until the NBA trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 8th.