The Atlanta Hawks are expected to make Dejounte Murray available in trade talks this offseason, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The update does not come as a surprise as talk of the Hawks’ potential decision to split up their star backcourt has been in the rumor mill for months. Charania even mentioned the Los Angeles Lakers in his report, citing the two sides’ previous talks ahead of the trade deadline in February.
At any rate, he got Murray’s attention.
“One name that they did pursue last season at the trade deadline that I think teams around the league expect to come up again in trade conversations over the next week or so and make sense for the Lakers is Dejounte Murray with the Hawks,” Charania said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on June 21.
“The Lakers have maintained a level of interest in Dejounte Murray over the last several months.”
Murray initially posted a series of eye emojis on X. But he quickly deleted it. Fans noticed.
Fans reacts to Dejounte Murray's deleted post amid Hawks trade rumors
Many pointed to the date as a telling indication of the intended message. It is notably two years to the day that he sent an identical post that seemingly alluded to his trade to Atlanta. He was traded nine days later.
Murray would post an image of himself fired up, but fans in the comments pointed to the deleted message and the speculation ran rampant.
Lakers fans were understandably prominent in light of Charania’s report.
“Can’t wait till you in this purple and gold threads playing for a championship,” a fan posted in the comments.
“Hope u not going back to the spurs with them colors fam. Hope u gon be a laker in 2 more weeks & what should have been done.. @Lakers @JeanieBuss @jj_redick get dejounte in a laker uniform,” another fan posted.
“This man has a passion and love for the game that a lot of mfs just don’t have. Bro is always in the lab. Need you in LA big dawg @DejounteMurray you a KILLA,” said yet another fan.
That one may have hit the sentiments on the head as well as any.
Murray has brushed off trade speculation in the past, saying that such content is created to drive conversation. But he more recently posted a message on social media. saying trade rumors inspired him.
“IM IN THAT MF MODE I SWEAR!!!!” Murray captioned a post on Instagram on June 18. “Trade Talks Turn #DM5 Up To The MAXIMUM!!!!”
The picture may simply illustrate that point better than the eye emojis did.
