Fantasy fallout: Dejounte Murray reportedly traded to Pelicans

By Raphielle Johnson

Another major domino has fallen before the official start of free agency, as the Atlanta Hawks have reportedly thrown in the towel on the Trae Young/Dejounte Murray experiment. Murray is headed out the door, with Atlanta reportedly trading him to New Orleans in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, EJ Liddell, and two future first-round picks.

While Murray was a top 40 fantasy player in 8- and 9-cat formats, his value took a hit compared to his best seasons in San Antonio. Moving to New Orleans, which had a clear need to address at point guard, could boost Murray into top 25 territory at a minimum. However, this won’t be the only change to the Pelicans rotation before the start of next season.

Jonas Valanciunas will be an unrestricted free agent, and the expectation is that the Pelicans will have a new starting center next season (Baylor center Yves Missi was the team’s first-round selection). There has been no shortage of trade speculation regarding Brandon Ingram, and with the slender forward heading into a contract year, he may be the odd man out if David Griffin wants to make any other significant changes to the lineup.

As for the Hawks, while Nance and Daniels aren’t “glamorous” fantasy options, the latter could have added value in his new home. Let’s look at how this reported trade will impact fantasy basketball next season.

Pelicans receive:

Dejounte Murray

With Atlanta following up its run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 with a first-round playoff exit, the Hawks front office took a home-run swing by acquiring Murray from the Spurs in exchange for Danilo Gallinari and three future first-round picks. Murray was coming off his first All-Star season, and the hope was that he could pair up with Young and give the Hawks a needed spark as they hoped to contend in the East. Unfortunately, the fit between the two guards always appeared awkward, even if they continued to put up solid individual numbers.

Murray went from providing top 10 per game and total value during his final season in San Antonio to ranking just inside the top 40 in the former, according to Basketball Monster….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy-fallout-dejounte-murray-reportedly-000016839.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-29 00:00:16

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.