Spurs' final piece of Dejounte Murray trade may get much worse

Air Alamo · Jul 22, 2026 13:00 · 3 min read

Spurs' final piece of Dejounte Murray trade may get much worse — Dec 23, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray (5) during the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Atlanta's continued rise could leave the Spurs with a much lower draft pick than fans envisioned when the Dejounte Murray trade happened.

When the Spurs traded Dejounte Murray to the Hawks in 2022, the draft haul they received in return was seen as strong. When the wheels of the Murray-Trae Young partnership began to fall off, San Antonio smelled even rosier. Atlanta looked poised to struggle for the foreseeable future.

Spurs Nation licked their chops at the potential of netting two or three lottery selections from the deal. Instead, the opposite has been happening, and it's only going to get worse.

The final piece of the trade package may end up being far less valuable than anyone first imagined.

Atlanta keeps making the Spurs' picks worse

So far, the Silver and Black have only gotten one lottery pick out of the deal, and it was the very last one of the bunch in the 2025 draft. Now, this isn't about Carter Bryant and whether he was the right pick. He was, but that's beside the point. This is strictly about where the Atlanta picks have landed, considering initial hopes.

The expectation was that the Hawks would decline. Instead, Jalen Johnson has turned into an All-Star, and their roster has performed better than expected. Last season, most believed they'd certainly take a step back after trading Young and some of the injury issues they dealt with, but that's not what happened.

ATL won 46 games, landing the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and giving the Spurs the 20th pick in this summer's draft. Just as this isn't about Carter Bryant, it isn't about Jayden Quaintance, either. San Antonio will always make the best of whatever situation they're in, and they've done that.

Now, as we look toward the final piece of the trade—Atlanta's 2027 first-round pick—the Spurs might end up picking even further down than they did this time.

JJ will only get better. Onyeka Okongwu is a young stud at center. He's still improving. Their front office hasn't rested at all. Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins are showing up to bolster their depth after being traded for over the last few weeks.

Every step the Hawks take forward pushes San Antonio's final draft asset further down the board.

The Spurs still won the trade with the Hawks but not by as much

Let's be clear. We're not trying to rewrite history here. The Spurs are doing fine. They still received Bryant, valuable flexibility, and multiple assets. Expectations have changed, though. Fans went from counting on extra lottery picks to having to accept the reality that the late 20s are more likely.

Despite all of this, the trade should still be considered a success for several reasons. The most important of them being that it served as a launch point to acquire the first overall pick after some well-timed tanking that brought Victor Wembanyama to San Antonio.

It's just no longer looking like the franchise-altering robbery many believed it would become.