Recent NBA halftime rumors: San Antonio Spurs discuss Dejounte Murray deals

The trade talks from Thursday night’s NBA draft have brought to the forefront of the early break a long list of veteran players dominated by Jerami Grant, John Collins, Rudy Gobert, OG Anunoby and future freelancers such as Jalen Brunson and Deandre Ayton. league leaders.

A new name will emerge in various trade talks on Wednesday: San Antonio Spurs star defender Dejounte Murray, whose a mysterious tweet of eye-emoticons put the internet on fire on tuesday.

Spurs makes offers to Murray and has told several interested teams that San Antonio will need a “Jrue Holiday-like package” to leave the 25-year-old general, setting three first-round choices as an approximate benchmark. every fiancé Murray free to peek.

San Antonio’s most important discussions about Murray seemed to be taking place with the Atlanta Hawks, the framework that would send Collins back to Spurs, over-sources told B / R. San Antonio and Atlanta have refuted the concept of the deal from at least the February trading deadline. Sources say Atlanta, among other off-season gates, has explored various ways to add a dynamic ball handler and defensive partner alongside Trae Young in Hawks’ backfield. Ironically, the first signs of Atlanta’s efforts to find a better teammate in Hawks’ rotation of guards than New Orleans made Holiday available in 2020.

Other teams currently known to be aggressively looking for defensive players are the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards, while the Minnesota Timberwolves have been actively researching D’Angelo Russell’s commercial scenario market, sources told B / R.

Murray will have an extraordinary year in San Antonio, where he earned his first Star Tournament nod and flirted with the season’s average triple-double figures: 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game. But there is a feeling among NBA leaders that San Antonio is still open to extended reconstruction and Murray’s inevitably expensive contract extension is already on the horizon. His current four-year, $ 64 million deal is expected to end in 2024, and Murray should receive a maximum salary commensurate with his current production and skills development.

For Collins, Atlanta’s known motivation to move a talented striker has revolved around the league, and San Antonio, Sacramento and Utah – in a potential exchange with Gobert – are the most legitimate potential landing points for a 24-year-old. The acquisition of the Portland Wednesday Night Grant from the Detroit Pistons and Trail Blazers’ priority to give Anunoby the 7th option seems to make Portland Collins less likely, despite frequent trade talks between Blazers and Hawks. representations.

DEANDRE AYTON DETROITI?

Another direct effect of the Detroit trade subsidy and Portland is the sudden financial flexibility that the Pistons office is currently facing. Detroit has been hailed as a potential packer stealing Deandre Ayton, Mitchell Robinson, Miles Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Collin Sexton from a free agency.

Although the Pistons will not be able to wipe out all of the above players, Detroit is now projected to have more than $ 50 million in space, assuming the Pistons choose Hamidou Diallo and Luka Garza.

Detroit always seemed to be the biggest threat to offer Ayton the maximum salary he and his agents so clearly want. Despite Portland’s rumored interest, Trail Blazers is expected to leave the start at Jusuf Nurkic. Atlanta brass has its hands in many other cookie jars, including Gobert. San Antonio is also often mentioned as Ayton’s fiancé.

Now the Pistons could spend that $ 30 plus a million dollars on Ayton’s big payday and still chase the other free agents they crave. League staff had long mentioned the deal with Jerami Grant as a potential mechanism for taking Ayton to Pistons.

But even before Grant moved to Portland, Suns officials had begun sending messages to rival teams and other non-league employees that Phoenix might not match Ayton’s offer, sources told B / R. As there is no obvious signature and trade to return to Suns, it is unclear whether Detroit has a limited Ayton chase in the free agent market.

POINT GUARD CAROUSEL

Should New York finally fail to lure Brunson away from the Dallas Mavericks, Malcolm Brogdon is expected to be Knicks’ next goalkeeper this season, sources told B / R, not Kyrie Irving. .

Sources say Pacers has most consistently discussed Brogdon’s dealings with Knicks and Wizards ahead of Thursday’s NBA draft, but league officials are strongly skeptical that Brogdon will actually be taken to either the Washington or New York package, which focuses on the No. 10 or No. 11 options.

Sources said the Wizards were ready to discuss Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in trade talks. New York is exploring all the possibilities associated with Alec Burks, Evan Fournier, Nerlens Noel, Kemba Walker and Cam Reddish.

Other veteran ball handlers, in addition to the aforementioned Murray and Russell, are also available for sale to Utah Jazz defender Mike Conley, Charlotte’s Terry Rozier, Pelicans ‘defender Devonte’ Graham and Nuggets table manager Monte Morris.

Latest prices on Myles Turner, Tobias Harris, Jazz Star and more

• It is said that the Myers Turner Market in Pacers has Minnesota, Toronto and Charlotte. New York has also been interested in Turner for a long time, but Knicks will only be considered a serious Turner if Mitchell Robinson leaves the agency.
• Philadelphia has continued to investigate Tobias Harris’ trade packages. The Sixers have called together a number of teams to assess the value of Harris, Danny Green and Matisse Thybulle, sources said, and have called a number of teams specifically looking for a first round selection for Thybulle. a team contract framework to create a compelling veteran rotating player.
• Indiana, Utah, Boston and Detroit have all been described as teams looking to make choices in the back of the first round.
• To that end, the Celtics seem ready to talk to rotating players like Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard, but only for the right price.
• Utah is looking for a first-round option to move all non-Donovan Mitchell or Rudy Gobert players. Royce O’Neale has registered a commercial league all over.
• Sources said Phoenix has called on rivals to measure the value of Jae Crowder in the commercial market, while Sunsi has once again been linked to Eric Gordon. Phoenix negotiated with Houston to reclaim Gordon, Chris Paul’s former teammate in the Rockets, back in February. Phoenix is ​​said to be looking for a second round option.
• Serbian defender Vasilije Micic continues to be a hot name in the commercial market. OKC has his own draw rights and Nikola Jokicit has allegedly been influenced by Denver to become a Euroleague MVP. San Antonio, Milwaukee and Chicago have also been mentioned as eligible suitors.

Jake Fischer covers the NBA for the Bleacher Report and is th
e author of Built to Lose: How the NBA’s Tanking Era Changed the League Forever.