The Hawks say a $104 million pair is “not enough” in exchange for Dejounte Murray.

 

 

 

 

 

As per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports on January 5, the Hawks (14–20) are looking to start over and are focusing on developing around Trae Young and Jalen Johnson. According to Fischer, who calls Dejounte Murray “widely available,” this implies that even he is available.

Regarding the untouchables on the squad, Marc Stein of The Stein Line shared such thoughts.

In exchange, Atlanta may potentially look for many of the most highly sought-after players who might be available via trade.

On January 5, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report stated, “It would have to be Austin Reaves; you would assume Austin Reaves would be a part of it; Rui Hachimura would probably be in it.” That just wouldn’t be sufficient for Atlanta. The Lakers are interested, but their lack of additional assets will make them less appealing to the Atlanta Hawks.

The amount of trade rumors the Hawks have been involved in shows how skilled of a negotiator they have become. However, they have also put themselves in a difficult situation by continuing to employ John Collins in a pay dump and doing little to increase his trade worth.

In order to make up for some of the assets they lost when they acquired Murray from the San Antonio Spurs, they also moved Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings.

Although the aggregate value of Reaves and Hachimura’s contracts is $105 million, they would boost the team’s earnings this season by around $10 million. This might imply that the Hawks trade other players in this transaction or in later ones.

This summer, Reaves re-signed for a $53.8 million, four-year contract.

He was the starting 2-guard when the campaign began. However, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has altered the starting lineup and rotations in a number of ways, returning Reaves to the bench position he held during the previous campaign.

Reaves’ output has benefited from it; as a reserve, he is averaging 15.4 points per game, just 0.1 less than he was scoring 15.5 points per game the previous season.

However, he is shooting true at a considerably higher rate—from 56.3% to 63.4%—and doing it with far more efficiency.

Along with this comeback, his three-point efficiency increased from 29.2% to 37.8% in his more comfortable role off the bench. Rumor has it that Reaves is one of the Lakers players who doesn’t get along with Ham.

This past summer, Hachimura re-upped with Los Angeles on a $51 million, three-year contract.

This season, he has missed extended stretches of time; he has missed two consecutive four-plus game absences in addition to missing the previous two Lakers games.

Hachimura, who was once the Washington Wizards’ No. 9 overall choice in 2019, is averaging 11.6 points on 57.3% true shooting, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 36.8% shooting from beyond the arc.

However, draft capital would also likely be a part of any deal for Murray. Additionally, the Lakers’ selections are expected to fetch a premium in trade. The Hawks may potentially attempt to take advantage of the Lakers’ 4-10 record following their In-Season Tournament victory in order to acquire talented rookie winger Max Christie.