NBA Trade Rumors: Dejounte Murray Valued Over Trae Young by Teams Due to Contracts

As the team heads to a potentially major reshuffle in the backcourt, Dejounte Murray rather than Trae Young might be the more valuable trade asset for the Atlanta Hawks.

HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported Tuesday that "several executives who spoke with HoopsHype say they value Murray over Young due to his contract length and average annual salary."

This is quickly becoming a theme.

On May 16, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported on the No Cap Room podcast that "a lot of teams will have [Cleveland Cavaliers star] Darius Garland ranked above Trae Young on their board of wish lists."

The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported the following day on his Buha's Block podcast that the Cavs' Donovan Mitchell "would be the preferred guy" for the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been linked with Young and Murray in the past.

Breaking down the landscape for the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, NOLA.com's Christian Clark wrote they "seem to hold more interest in Murray" than Young.

"The 6'5" Murray is not as much of a defensive liability as the 6'1" Young can be," he said. "He is also on a cheaper contract; Murray will make $25.5 million next season, while Young is owed $43 million."

A few years ago, calling Murray a better trade chip than Young probably would've been a minority opinion. Now, that seems to be the consensus around the NBA, and it speaks to how much the general perception around the latter is shifting.

The 25-year-old continues to fill out the stat sheet. He averaged 25.7 points and 10.8 assists while shooting 37.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Atlanta's back-to-back first round exits in 2022 and 2023 before missing the postseason entirely in 2023-24 is tough to ignore, though.

As Clark said, Young's defense has long been a glaring flaw in his game and he has provided little reason to think it will get better. Since he joined the team in 2018-19, the Hawks haven't finished higher than 18th (2020-21) in defensive rating, per NBA.com, which isn't a total coincidence.

Young's leadership in setting the tone as the best and most important player has come under criticism in the past as well with no head coach having lasted three full seasons since Mike Budenholzer's departure in 2018.

When the three-time All-Star has three years left to run on his $215.2 million contract, it's easy to see why rival teams might be having some pause on a prospective trade.