According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Atlanta Hawks struck a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, with the Hawks sending Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, a 2025 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers and a poor first-round pick among the Pelicans Lakers in 2027. Later, according to a follow-up report from ESPN's Andrew Lopez, the Pelicans also sent EJ Liddell to the Hawks in the deal.
Judging by the content of the deal, the Pelicans are the clear winners. The Pelicans sent this season's bench interior Nance Jr. and Daniels, who couldn't even enter the rotation lineup, in exchange for the Hawks' second-in-command Murray, and only paid two first-round picks as a price, which was definitely a lot of money. Daniels is a high-pick lottery pick, but he looks to be very slow to improve, and given his limitations on the offensive end, it will be difficult for him to become a good player.
However, the departure of Nance Jr. may cause some concern for everyone. Since the Pelicans send players less than the wages they get, this means that the Pelicans will be hard capped by the first local tyrant line, and the Pelicans' current salary is only about $10 million short of the first local tyrant line, and they still need to add 5 players. In other words, they can't use the Lose Mini Middle-Class exception without follow-up. After completing the signing of the rookie, they can only replenish the base salary players. And apart from first-round pick Yves Missi, they have no other interior players to use. Missy, while talented, is woefully lacking in maturity and immediacy, and the prospect of signing a starter-caliber center on the free market is almost non-existent. In this case, the competitiveness of the Pelicans' interior line is very worrying. The importance of Nance Jr. in the small-ball line-up or in the case of Jonas Valanciunas being targeted is a huge concern.
The Pelicans don't have a lot of leverage on their current roster to make further trades, but if they're willing to give up Brandon Ingram, they could trade for a good center, but the risks are huge. The Pelican's first step is obviously very targeted, but it does dig a hole for itself. If the Pelicans can handle the selection of the center position next, the team's competitiveness next season could be greatly improved. In any case, judging by the content of this deal alone, the Pelicans must be the winner.