Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray has been mired in trade rumours for months, and with his lackluster partnership with Trae Young on the court, it is widely believed that the Eagles will trade at least one of them this summer, and a recent photo of Murray on social media has led to interesting speculation about whether he already has a home of his choice.
Since unexpectedly reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, the Hawks have not made it past the first round in the last two playoffs, and this year they lost to the Bulls in the playoffs and missed the playoffs, and a rebuild is imminent. With the offseason on the horizon, Hawks management faces a crossroads between Trae Young and Murray, who must choose one of those two as the cornerstone of a rebuild.
At such a delicate moment, Murray quietly posted an undated photo on his social media of him wearing a beanie from the Brooklyn Nets, which seemed to imply that if the Hawks and the Nets can reach an agreement, then Murray himself is more than willing to join the Nets.
However, more media still believe that the Hawks are more inclined to trade three-time All-Star Trae Young, but this is just wishful thinking on the part of the Hawks management, and the Nets may not be willing to take Trae Young at all. Because the Hawks' asking price for trading Trae Young may be high, and he will take away an annual salary of $89 million for the next two seasons, and then have a player option worth $49 million in the 2026-27 season, not to mention what kind of spark Trae Young will burst out when he comes to a new team, this contract amount alone will directly lock in the Nets' salary space, which is undoubtedly a huge harm to their future operational flexibility, so if they were given the choice, they would definitely choose Murray over Trae Young。
It's no surprise that the Hawks will have an affair with the Nets, as the Nets arguably have deep pockets, having acquired a bunch of first-round picks when they traded Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at the 2023 trade deadline. Those picks include two first-round picks from the Phoenix Suns (2027, 2029) and the Dallas Mavericks (2029), which the rebuilding Hawks clearly covet.