The Hawks have officially announced the trade with the Pelicans that sends Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans.
The deal that ends the backcourt partnership of Murray and Trae Young was originally reported on June 28.
The Hawks received veteran forward/center Larry Nance and guard Dyson Daniels, forward EJ Liddell, a 2025 first-round pick (via the Lakers) and a 2027 first-round pick (the least favorable of Bucks and Pelicans picks).
The Hawks have also announced that Pelicans center Cody Zeller will be included in the deal. The Hawks will continue to evaluate their roster before deciding whether Zeller will remain with the team for next season, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Since the Hawks dealt Murray to the Pelicans and wing AJ Griffin to the Rockets, they’ve remained quiet throughout the free-agency moratorium. It was lifted at 6 p.m. Saturday, allowing teams to officially sign free agents they negotiated contracts with last week.
As of now, the Hawks have 15 players under contract after signing No. 1 draft pick Zaccharie Risacher to his rookie contract.
They have not announced if they have signed players to any of their three two-way roster spots.
The team extended two qualifying offers to Vit Krejci and Seth Lundy last week and still have to decide whether to guarantee Bruno Fernando’s contract. They extended the deadline for that decision to July 10.
It’s unlikely the Hawks will keep five centers under contract and could waive Zeller. They may also look for packages that include Nance in order to continue recouping assets.
The Hawks have until 5 p.m. the day before the start of the 2024-25 season to finalize their roster.
Here’s a look at the Hawks roster:
PG: Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Kobe Bufkin
SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Garrison Mathews, Nikola Djurisic*
SF: De’Andre Hunter, Zaccharie Risacher
PF: Jalen Johnson, Mo Gueye, EJ Liddell
C: Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Larry Nance, Cody Zeller, Bruno Fernando*
* have not signed contracts
About the Author
