Did Spurs Win Dejounte Murray Trade with Hawks?

The Atlanta Hawks face elimination tonight against the Boston Celtics, but they will be without Dejounte Murray, their key offseason trade acquisition from the San Antonio Spurs.

It's been nearly 10 months since the San Antonio Spurs traded Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks, and even though it's only been one season since the deal has been made, it appears very one-sided.

Even though the Spurs missed the playoffs and had their worst season in the Gregg Popovich era, they look pretty smart compared to the Hawks, who traded three first-round picks and a 2026 first-round pick swap for Murray.

Murray was expected to elevate the Hawks and thrust them into contention in the Eastern Conference, but Atlanta finds itself on the brink of elimination without its prized offseason acquisition, who is suspended for tonight's game after purposely bumping into an official following Sunday's loss in Game 4 against the Boston Celtics.

The Hawks hoped that Murray would play like the version of himself from last year, a player who almost single-handedly willed the Spurs to the play-in tournament. Statistically, Murray hasn't been much different. His numbers are relatively the same compared to last season, which is a plus considering he's playing next to an All-Star in Trae Young.

However, the Hawks haven't had much team success with Murray and have fallen way short of expectations. It's unfair to completely blame all of this on Murray, but his antics in Game 4 have proven him to be unreliable on the game's biggest stage.

The Spurs have yet to win the trade, considering we don't know how any of these extra picks will pan out, but San Antonio certainly looks like it moved on from Murray at the right time.

Could we eat our words if the Hawks win Game 5 on the road against the Celtics and Murray returns in Games 6 & 7 to stun Boston? Sure, but everything we've seen in Murray's first season in Atlanta has not given us confidence that it will happen, and it has the Hawks' outlook beyond the season looking incredibly bleak.

---

You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Spurs? Click Here.

Follow Inside the Spurs on Twitter.

Follow Inside the Spurs on Facebook.

Want even more San Antonio Spurs news? Check out the SI.com team page here