In June, the Hawks acquired Dejounte Murray from the Spurs to be the backcourt partner with their star guard, Trae Young. The two haven’t played a minute of regular-season basketball yet, but they’ve shown that their partnership could be a fruitful one.
The two, along with Hawks forward John Collins, teamed up Sunday evening at The CrawsOver Pro-Am basketball league in Seattle. Collins, Murray and Young combined for 103 points in their team’s (The Dream Team) 126-121 win over the Sonics.
The CrawsOver is a summer pro-am league that hosts a mix of current and former professional, international, minor league and collegiate players. Former NBA standout Jamal Crawford founded the league. Several NBA players have participated, including this year’s overall top pick Paolo Banchero and second pick Chet Holmgren.
On Sunday, Murray and Young traded ballhandling duties and looked comfortable when playing on and off the ball.
Collins also joined in the growing chemistry with his teammates, including when Young seemingly tossed up an alley-oop for Murray. Instead of finishing with a jam, though, Murray reversed it, and a trailing Collins finished it with a two-handed dunk.
The three had several more highlight-worthy moments, and Murray led the scoring with 39 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Young scored 37 points and had 13 assists, while Collins finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds.
It’s a small sample size, but it temporarily quiets questions about how Murray and Young not only can coexist but also can complement each other’s skill set.
Last season, Young averaged 28.4 points and 9.7 assists, while Murray put up 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game.
Young knocked down 46% of his overall shots and made 38.2% of his buckets from long range. Murray is a capable 3-point shooter, but he tended to thrive when he was attacking the rim, with 76.3% of his shots coming on 2-pointers. He made just under 67% of his tries within 3 feet of the basket.
Murray and Collins also looked comfortable with each other and could be the anchors of the Hawks’ defense among the starting rotation.
The team likely will roll with Young, Murray, De’Andre Hunter, Collins and Clint Capela as its starting five. It will, of course, likely stagger Young and Murray’s minutes throughout the rest of the game, while making any necessary in-game adjustments.
There are still two months remaining until the Hawks begin training camp. So, the preview of the chemistry between what appears to be the Hawks’ big three is promising.
Hawks offseason moves
June 23: Selected AJ Griffin with the No. 16 pick. Drafted Ryan Rollins with the No. 44 pick and traded him to the Warriors for No. 51 pick Tyrese Martin and $2 million.
June 29: Obtained Dejounte Murray and Jock Landale from the Spurs for Danilo Gallinari, a 2023 first-round pick (from Hornets), 2025 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick and the right to swap first-round picks in 2026.
June 30: Free agents Delon Wright (Wizards) and Kevin Knox (Pistons) agree to deals with other teams.
June 30: Extended a two-way qualifying offer to 2021 draft pick Sharife Cooper.
July 1: Agreed to a one-year deal with free agent Aaron Holiday.
July 1: Traded Kevin Huerter to the Kings for Justin Holiday, Maurice “Moe” Harkless and a 2024 lottery-protected first-round pick.
July 2: Dealt Jock Landale to Suns for cash.
July 3: Signed AJ Griffin to rookie deal.
July 5: Promoted Joe Prunty to lead assistant; hired Mike Longabardi.
July 8: Signed center Frank Kaminsky to one-year deal.
July 16: Signed Tyrese Martin to two-year contract.
July 19: Hired Kyle Korver as director of player affairs and development.
July 22: Guard Sharife Cooper signed his two-way qualifying offer.
July 26: Waived guard Sharife Cooper.
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