After much speculation, Dejounte Murray is staying put with the Atlanta Hawks. Murray, who only had one year left on his deal, agreed to sign a four-year, $120 million extension with the Hawks, keeping him in town until at least the end of the 2026-27 season (he has a player option for the 2027-28 campaign).

Murray is an All-Star level talent, and the Hawks did not want to run the risk of alienating him by refusing to give him a contract extension. Losing him for nothing next year could have been disastrous, but at the very least, the Hawks won't have to think about that possibility anymore.

But is signing Dejounte Murray to that big of an extension a win for the Hawks? Or could they have done better in negotations?

Here are grades for both Murray and the Hawks in the aftermath of the four-year, $120 million extension the two sides agreed upon.

Hawks' grade: A

The Hawks made a bold move during the 2022 offseason, trading away a few first-round picks to the San Antonio Spurs to acquire Dejounte Murray, who was coming off the best season of his career. Murray, despite playing in the same position as the Hawks' best player (Trae Young), had the size to move up to the two, giving the team a more dynamic backcourt.

Alas, the Hawks didn't take as big of a leap as they had thought when they swung the trade for the All-Star guard. They won just 41 games — two fewer than their win total the season before — and inconsistency came to define their season. Murray played well, but he didn't move the needle as much as his talents suggests he could have.

Thus, it didn't completely come as a surprise when the Hawks reportedly made each and every one of their players not named Trae Young available for trade talks. Murray, especially, could have been an enticing trade option for other teams, even if he only had one year left on his deal prior to signing the extension.

The Young-Murray fit remains a bit clunky on paper. Young and Murray are both ball-dominant. The former, especially, loves to pound the rock, orchestrate the pick-and-roll, and leverage the threat of his lethal limitless outside shot and deadly floater game to set up easy buckets for others. But when Murray takes his turn as the lead ballhandler, Young doesn't move around. Young prefers to stay on a standstill deep beyond the arc instead of moving off the ball.

But there is hope for the Hawks. Under the tutelage of head coach Quin Snyder, the Hawks should find a way to install an offense that could make good use of their talented backcourt within the flow of the offense instead of a headache-inducing my-turn, your-turn style of play.

For an average annual value of $30 million a year, the Hawks may be getting a steal — clunky on-court fit or not. Dejounte Murray remains one of the best defensive guards in the NBA. His length makes getting around him a chore, and passing over him a near-impossible task.

Compared to the contract Fred VanVleet got in free agency, that kind of value for Murray is an absolute steal. (Anyone's contract may look like a steal when compared to VanVleet's, but I digress.) But overall, the amount the Hawks are paying Murray is fair value for a borderline All-Star talent.

And it has to be said that in light of trading away John Collins for absolute peanuts, the Hawks surely must have had something brewing. Perhaps this was the move. Now the hard work of turning it into tangible results on the court begins.

Dejounte Murray's grade: B

It's hard to rag on anyone for taking generational money when it's offered to them. In that regard, Dejounte Murray is a huge winner. $120 million is no joke. But one would think that Murray could have earned a lot more dough had if he decided to test the waters in free agency next year.

There will be a ton of teams that project to have space to sign multiple max salary players, and at first glance, Murray projected to be fifth-best player in that unrestricted free agent class, only behind Pascal Siakam, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, and Jaylen Brown (no particular order). If Fred VanVleet earned a three-year $130 million deal, Murray surely could have gotten a contract for that similar amount, since he's younger and arguably a better all-around player.

But Murray decided to play it safe, which isn't a bad decision in and of itself, as $120 million over four years is still an amount of money that 98 percent of the people in the world could only dream of earning.