Dejounte is flourishing in Atlanta

When you are Atlanta Hawks Traded for Dejounte Murray This offseason, one of the most respected defensive guards in the league will be paired with Trae YoungThe Hawks had a great offensive guard in. It made sense on paper and allowed them to succeed.

The Hawks were identified by ESPN’s Basketball Power Index as a team to follow (and a potential futures mine) in preseason. They had the third-highest BPI score (and the highest in the Southeast Division) in the Eastern Conference.

According to ESPN’s Real Plus Minus(RPM), Young had the greatest offensive impact among NBA point guards in two of the three previous seasons.

In each of the previous two seasons, the only point guards that finished higher in defensive RPM than Murray were Chris Paul And Mike Conley. Murray, an ex-All-Defensive Team selection with 2.0 steals per game, was also the leader in steals for the NBA last year.

Consider that Young is a very high-usage player with a 37.4 USG% which trailed only Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid And Giannis Antetokounmpo It was difficult to imagine how Murray could thrive in fantasy basketball in the midst of an entire NBA season.

Murray was the Spurs’ primary offensive engine and scored the fifth most fantasy points in the NBA. His 27.3 USG% was just above the average for high usage players. Russell Westbrook And James Harden. He would have to share the ball with Young, so how could he get enough assists and points to repeat that fantasy success?

Murray has been thriving in ATL for the first month. Young’s 35.0 USG% ranks fifth in NBA, behind the three same players last season. Ja Morant. Young takes two Continue reading His shots this season are very similar to his 9.7 APG from last year’s campaign. Young still controls everything in Atlanta. Murray has the seventh-most fantasy point total in the NBA, but he plays from the same backcourt.

How is it possible?

It all starts with the Hawks roster construction. Young and Murray are the only team-offense creators. The average APG of the Hawks team players is 1.8, while the average APG of the three other starters is 2.7. Only 23.2% of Murray’s field goals are assisted, and only 13.8% for Young’s, but every Hawks rotation player is unassisted. Aaron Holiday They are at least 60% assisted in field goals. Except for Young and Murray, nearly every Hawks player is a finisher.

Murray, despite being surrounded by finishers is still the top scorer on the team, with Young possibly the exception. The team’s shot attempts are dominated by the backcourt. Murray is taking 19.1 FGA more shots this season than last (18.3FGA) and Young and Murray combine for nearly as many shots per match (41.5 FGA combined) than the three other starters and the top two bench producers (42.7 FGA).

The Hawks are able to stagger Young and Murray’s minutes so that they are almost always on the court. Young plays 35.1 MPG, which means that Murray still gets about a quarter of the game to fill the Ice-Trae-center-of-everything role for the offense. Murray’s production has been remarkably consistent since his time with the Spurs. He combined 12 minutes of top-5 usage with 24 hours of option 1B creator/finisher. While his 7.8 APG for this season is slightly lower than his 9.2 APG last year, both his scoring average (21.5 PMPG) and his made 3s (1.9 3PG), are up a little.

On the other side of the court is the presence rebound vacuums Clint Capela And John Collins Murray’s rebounding has been affected by his starting lineup (19.9 combined RPG). Murray has “only” 6.4 RPG after 8.3 RPG last season, but this still places him among the top-5 pure-guard rebounders in league.

Murray seems to be more aggressive as a ballhawk because he has rim support. Murray’s current average is 2.1 SPG. This is up from his NBA-leading 2.0 SPG last year. His career-best pace of 0.4 BPG also stands at a career high.

Murray is living the Atlanta Dream of fantasy basketball. Murray is averaging 48.6 FP/G in the first month. That’s a lot faster than the pace I predicted for him (41.7FP/G). Murray is now 11th in my FBA points rankings for the rest of the season. LeBron JamesMurray will be back in the top-10 soon, even though his injury is still lingering.

Murray missed the 2018-19 season due to a torn right anterior cruciate ligament, but has been consistent over the past three seasons with an average absence of just eight per season. With the Hawks, Murray can continue to play at his best even though he is one of the most used players in the NBA.

Murray would be an excellent trade partner in fantasy leagues. Especially if you can get more for his name recognition value (relatively high) and/or from someone who still doubts that he will be able reach Young’s level. This would be a trade for Murray, as you already know the game’s name: Elite production + high value can often lead you to the title!