Atlanta Hawks star guard Dejounte Murray was surprisingly ruled out for Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Celtics with lower-back tightness.
Seeing this happen on any other night of NBA action wouldn’t be that big of a deal. That’s until we realize the NBA trade deadline is less than 18 hours away. Speculation about a potential trade will also now increase with Murray said to be firmly on the block.
The All-Star guard suited up in Atlanta’s last game Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring 21 points in north of 34 minutes of action. He just showed up on the injury report earlier on Wednesday.
Atlanta has been engaged in dialogue with both the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz on a trade that would send Murray out west. Even if there is a slight chance of a trade happening, it makes sense for the Hawks to sit Murray in order to avoid injury. The team also can’t fake an injury on its report, indicating that there is something Murray is dealing with.
Related: Updated NBA trade rumors
Dejounte Murray trade increasingly likely ahead of deadline?
It was earlier on Wednesday that Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported the Hawks were engaged in trade talks with the New Orleans Pelicans regarding Murray. The Golden State Warriors had also been bandied about as a potential destination. But both Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson are on the court against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday evening.
The expectation is that Atlanta will once again engage in talks with the Lakers about Murray ahead of the 3 PM ET deadline on Thursday.
Interestingly enough, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham noted earlier in the day that D’Angelo Russell underwent some type of procedure and missed practice on Wednesday. Los Angeles attempted to clarify the situation by indicating it was a treatment. But this tidbit is interesting given that Russell has been involved in rumors sending him to Atlanta for Murray.
- Dejounte Murray stats (2023-24): 21.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 5.2 APG, 46% shooting, 37% 3-point
As you can see, Murray is in the midst of yet another great season. He’s likely the best player who could be moved ahead of Thursday’s deadline.