San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray. (Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports)
Dejounte Murray is heading to the Atlanta Hawks via a trade, but he was sure to give San Antonio major love on Twitter before he headed out.
After his first All-Star season in San Antonio, Dejounte Murray is heading east for a new adventure.
The Spurs traded their up-and-coming point guard to the Hawks on Wednesday, picking up Danilo Gallinari and three first-round draft picks in return.
While there was clear excitement on the Atlanta side of things, Murray didn’t leave without giving his now-former home a fond farewell.
Dejounte Murray tweeted an emotional farewell to Spurs after trade
“SAN ANTONIO I LOVE YOU FOREVER….. Thank You @spurs And The Whole City For Believing In Me And Embracing Me From DAY ONE. I Want To Write A Whole Book But It’s Not Easy. We Are Family And Its Always Going To Be Bigger Than Basketball!!!” Murray tweeted.
The Spurs drafted Murray late in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. The Washington product steadily improved each year of his career, overcoming an ACL injury in 2018 to achieve All-Star status this past season while leading the league in steals and averaging 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists.
His partnership with Trae Young in Atlanta will be one of the most intriguing in the Eastern Conference going forward.
Meanwhile, San Antonio will look to use the first-round picks they just attained to rebuild for the future. If they draft as well as they did with Murray, it should all work out. The question is whether Notre Dame combo guard Blake Wesley, who the Spurs just picked up with the No. 25 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, can develop in the same way Murray already has.