Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky Murray Takes His NBA Greatness From Texas to Georgia

The Hawks pay a heavy bounty to acquire the All-Star guard from San Antonio.

Dan Raley

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It took Dejounte Murray a productive season with the University of Washington basketball team to make it to the NBA and six years with the San Antonio Spurs to become an All-Star selection.

Next stop, Atlanta Hawks.

What sort of hardwood greatness now awaits the South Seattle native in the capital of the New South?

The Hawks just handed over CNN, Coca-Cola and Tyler Perry's production studio to obtain him in a blockbuster trade. 

Forget the Alamo, remember Martin Luther King Jr.

In a transaction that hasn't been formally announced, Murray has a new NBA home, sharing the court with the equally high-scoring Trae Young. 

It's not New York, to the chagrin of Knicks fans everywhere.

Yet it's a big step up from a continually rebuilding San Antonio team, which put the franchise on his shoulders the past couple of seasons.

The Hawks handed over forward Danilo Gallinari and three first-round draft picks for Dejounte, hoping he can lead them to the NBA promised land after an earlier-than-expected opening-round playoff elimination.

One of the reasons the Spurs gave up Murray is he's scheduled to make $16.6 million next season and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024. They had to maximize their return now or get a lot less when backed against the wall.

The Hawks are sending a 2023 first-round pick obtained from the Charlotte Hornets, plus their own 2025 and 2027 first-round picks, to the Spurs in the deal, The transaction reportedly also includes a pick swap in 2026. 

Murray, 25, is coming off his first All-Star season, one in which he averaged a career-best 21.1 points, 9.2 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game last season. He finished with 13 triple-doubles, setting the single-season franchise record for the Spurs.

He still visits Seattle fairly regularly, but, all of a sudden, he's got a longer commute from Georgia than Texas.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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