The Dejounte Murray trade was covered sufficiently this summer, although primarily from the New Orleans Pelicans’ point of view.

The 27-year-old will undoubtedly help solve New Orleans’ point guard issue, but don’t be surprised if the Hawks come away as the winners in the deal.

Atlanta received a pair of first-round picks, Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and E.J. Liddell (who has since been traded to the Phoenix Suns for David Roddy) in exchange for Murray, a move that cleared a lot of future salary off the books and raised the ceiling of the franchise overall.

The most important part of the trade for the Hawks was the inclusion of a 2025 first-round pick from New Orleans, one that’s actually coming from the Los Angeles Lakers that was originally sent to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis trade. The Pels had the option to take L.A.’s draft selection in 2024 or 2025, opting to delay the pick likely due to the difference in class strengths.

The Hawks now own the Lakers’ unprotected first-round pick in 2025, a draft that is “loaded with potential stars,” according to Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman.

Los Angeles has selected at No. 17 each of the past two years, although its 2025 pick has the potential to be even higher. LeBron James (71 games played) and Anthony Davis (76) were both abnormally healthy last year, as neither star had even reached 60 games since the 2019-20 season.

With James set to turn 40 in December and Davis now 31, these two aren’t going to become more durable with age. Missing one (or both) would lead to a freefall for a Lakers team that did little to improve this offseason and had a net rating of minus-13.2 (8th percentile via Cleaning the Glass) in the 735 total possessions the two stars were off the floor.

This is a potential gold mine of a pick for Atlanta, which is important since its own draft selection is owed to the San Antonio Spurs from the original Murray trade.

Tack on another first-round pick coming in 2027, the two-way potential of 21-year-old Dyson Daniels and the insurance of Nance as a do-it-all rotation big and we’ll look back at this trade being a huge win for the Hawks.