The Brooklyn Nets are looking toward the 2023 offseason as a time period where they can fully separate themselves from their failed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving “all-in” era. With budding star Mikal Bridges already in tow and the arrival of recently selected first-round picks Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead, it seems as though GM Sean Marks is off to a grand start in rebranding the franchise.
However, with the 2023 NBA Draft behind them, perhaps now may be a great time to execute some sort of smart and splashy transaction to even further remove themselves from the last three seasons. One route they should consider taking is a trade with the Atlanta Hawks to acquire All-Star point guard, Dejounte Murray.
A possible trade reads as follows:
Brooklyn Nets receive: Dejounte Murray
Atlanta Hawks receive: Cam Johnson (sign-and-trade), 2025 first-round pick (via Phoenix)
Soon after the Hawks were eliminated in the first round of the postseason by the Boston Celtics, reports started to surface suggesting that they could be open to making some significant shakeups to their talent pool with a noteworthy rumbling being that the front office could be willing to move on from Dejounte Murray.
The concept of the Nets trading for the stud guard is one that's been broached on several different occasions by us here at ClutchPoints, and, as time passes by, the logic behind such an idea only seems to become more sound.
Brooklyn seems to be covered from a rotational perspective in almost all areas, however, their firepower at the one is arguably their most lacking.
Dejounte Murray could be the perfect option to help fill this void.
A do-it-all backcourt talent, the 26-year-old is one of the best two-way guards in the entire association who, over the last two seasons, has posted stellar averages of 20.8 points, 7.6 assists, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 steals while shooting 46.3% from the field.
Perhaps his most lacking attribute is his floor spacing abilities, as he boasts a mere 33.5% 3-point shooting clip for his career.
However, on a team like the Nets with guys like Joe Harris (43.7% career 3-point shooter) and Mikal Bridges (37.6% career clip) already in tow, Murray's attacking style of play paired with the club's core could allow him to see ample open lanes to the rim while also seeing many kick-out opportunities on drives, which would only make Brooklyn's offensive play more menacing for opposing defenses to go up against.
On top of this, his arrival would also give the club a ferocious inside-out defensive tandem of both Murray (an All-Defensive talent who led the league in steals back in 2021-22) and big man Nic Claxton who, last season, posted the second-most blocks per game in the league with 2.5 and finished in the top-10 in the 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year race.
His top-notch play on both ends of the floor would instantly be a benefit for head coach Jacque Vaughn's squad in 2023-24, while his still youthful age would allow him to serve as a true building block alongside the likes of the 26-year-old Bridges for the long-haul (assuming they would re-sign him following the expiration of his current contract in 2024).
Of course, the other half of this proposed deal sees the Nets make the hard decision to part ways with Cam Johnson.
Selected 11 overall by the Phoenix Suns back during the 2019 NBA Draft, the forward has continuously gotten better with every passing season.
During his 25 regular season games with Brooklyn this past year following his trade from Phoenix in the Durant blockbuster, he would see career-best numbers of 16.6 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 46.8% from the field and 37.2% from distance. As a result of his production, many have suggested that Johnson could now be eligible for a rather sizeable new contract during this summer's free agency, which has been speculated to be in the range of four years, $84 million.
Though he may very well have earned such a lucrative deal, considering Brooklyn's apparent need for a legitimate point guard option coupled with Mikal Bridges' ability to play either the three or four anyway, utilizing him in a sign-and-trade could actually be a beneficial move to make for the Nets both in the immediate future as well as for the long term.
As for the Hawks, they'd be benefiting from adding Cam Johnson's improved offensive game and stellar long-range scoring touch (career 39.3% 3-point shooter), the latter of which would significantly help them improve upon their 21-ranked per-game performance from beyond the arc.
On top of this, they'd be securing more first-round draft capital to either hold onto and use on a future prospect down the road or, considering their desires to part ways with current power forward John Collins, utilize it as a sweetener to a possible follow-up deal.
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