“If you would set free away from the San Antonio system with that type of knowledge, dangerous player, man” – 8x NBA all-star warns NBA of the newly formed trio in Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks made one of the biggest offseason acquisitions by acquiring Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs.
On the "VC Show with Vince Carter," the eight-time All-Star, who closed out his storied career in Atlanta, praised Murray’s skillset . He talked about how he benefited from playing in the San Antonio system under Gregg Popovich.
"It kind of reminds me (of) everything (I) like (about) Kawhi Leonard," Carter said. "He took all the tools from Pop and just took off and flourished. You know, obviously a champion away from San Antonio and just a dominant player in the league."
Leonard left the Spurs after the 2018 season and then won a championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
The Spurs run a very structured system, and now that Murray has developed into the player he is, he can now let loose a little bit and expand his game.
How Murray fits with the Hawks
Carter also discussed how Murray would fit in with the Hawks, especially how he would team with star Trae Young. Carter believes that playing together in pro-ams this summer helped them get a good feel for each other on the court.
"It was great to see all summer," Carter said. "He and Trae playing together. So, the getting used to each other thing is already been done. That's out of the way. So, it's now, 'Let's just go ball.'
"And now I mean a lot of them. John Collins also played with them. So, you know. that trio with some of the other guys have played together, been together, so that I like their approach."
The Hawks will try to make headway in a stacked Eastern Conference. Philadelphia, Boston and Milwaukee all look like strong contenders.
Adding Murray to Young and their young core will make the Hawks a good team to watch.
Murray averaged a career-high 21.1 points per game and a league-best 2.0 steals per game and was named an All-Star for the first time last season. He was the 29th pick in the 2016 draft out of Washington.
Young, who has been an All-Star twice in his four seasons, averaged 28.4 ppg last season. He was the No. 5 pick in 2018 out of Oklahoma.
John Collins, De'Andre Hunter and Clint Capela should all be big contributors this season as well. Will Murray work well enough with the team’s chemistry to put them over the top?