Dejounte Murray’s Departure Gets Former Hawks Star’s Approval, Predicts Favorable Change for CJ McCollum

Either Trae Young or DeJounte Murray was expected to be traded. When the Atlanta Hawks took the final plunge, it was the latter who found a new team in the New Orleans Pelicans. But did the Hawks get any advantage from it? Former NBA player Jeff Teague believes that the 27-year-old has found his most fitting place in the Pelicans where he can thrive. Additionly, another Pelican CJ Collum will also likely benefit from the deal.

During a conversation on the Club 520 podcast, Teague shared his opinion saying Murray didn’t match well with Young. “I love the DeJounte Murray. I wish he would have come on the show. I’m a fan. He didn’t fit Trae Young. It’s two point guard. But he fits New Orleans perfectly,” Teague said.

Explaining his opinion, Teague says that the 27-year-old will complement Collum better. Collum will finally get his wish to return to his actual position now. Speaking of CJ and Murray’s team-up, Teague argued that the Pelicans will have scoring and defensive guards, allowing CJ to potentially avoid playing as a point guard.

“Oh my god it’s unbelievable match. You got scoring guard and you got defensive guard who can score so he goes a defensive asssignments. CJ don’t have to play point guard anymore. He’s back to his original position. Dejounte can guard, multiple positions, but he’s also he’s like, really good point. I mean, he’s all star point guard so for New Orleans that’s perfect,” Teague concluded.

Moreover, known for his playmaking, Murray is expected to boost the backcourt with McCollum. He averaged career-high 22.5 points last season, along with 5.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists last season and is projected to find much opportunities in the new roster with rookie additions of  C Yves Missi and G Antonio Reeves. The traded is also said to benefit the Pelicans in a a cap fix.

While they garner such advantage, the last question as raised by Teague’s co-host was whether the Atlanta Hawks benefitted from the deal.

What is next for the Atlanta Hawks?

Teague believes that this trade will be beneficial to not only Murray but Hawks. In return for the 2022 NBA All-Star defender, the team acquired E.J. Liddell, Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, and two future first-round picks in 2025 and 2029. Before reading AJ Griffin, the team acquired No. 1 overall pick French player Zaccharie Risacher.

Thw Atlanta Hawks are certainly putting in efforts to build a new roster after finishing 10th last season. However, many argued that this roster is quite strong but still not enough to help the team win. The Hawks haven’t seen much improvement since making an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.

And just as Teague mentioned earlier, pairing a point guard Murray with another point guard Trae Young didn’t help the Hawks. And if a reset is a decision for the team, it will be interesting to see how things turn out for the Atlanta Hawks.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.