3 players Hawks will replace Dejounte Murray with next to Trae Young
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During the offseason, the Hawks made some changes to the team that will affect how their lineups will look this year. One of those changes was trading Dejounte Murray, who was Trae Young’s backcourt starting mate for the past two seasons. At the end of the day, the pairing didn’t work out in the Hawks favor, and they moved on in an attempt to find someone that fits next to Young.
Coming into the season, there are several directions the team can go when trying to find out who will be the starter next to Young in the backcourt. Here are the top three options that make the most sense.
Bogdan Bogdanovic has experience as Hawks’ starter
Bogdan Bogdanovic has been a starter for the Hawks several times since he’s been with the team. Good things always happen when he and Trae Young are on the floor together, mostly because of their ability to shoot threes and their chemistry playing off of one another. In the past two years, Bogdanovic has come off the bench, and last season was probably one of his best, as he should’ve been in the running for Sixth Man of the Year.
The thing with starting Bogdanovic is that even though the offense will improve, he and Young are not known for their defense. He’s also better coming off the bench, and head coach Quin Snyder may want to continue to have a spark in the second unit. If he wanted to go with experience and more offense, Bogdanovic would definitely be the top option.
Dyson Daniels can bring defense to the Hawks lineup
One of the players acquired in the Dejounte Murray trade was Dyson Daniels, who for the past two years in New Orleans showed flashes of potential but didn’t have much of the opportunity to shine. Luckily for him, Daniels is the exact player that the Hawks are looking for, and mainly because of his defense. If you go to any of the advanced metrics when it comes to defense, Daniels may be atop several of those lists. Daniels presents problems for opposing teams with his point-of-attack defense, and his ability to get steals, and blocks, as a guard.
Putting a defensive guard next to Daniels would be the perfect pairing, but the offense may take a dip depending on who else is in the lineup. Daniels is only a 31% three-point shooter during his career, but with a player like Young, he’d be able to get him easy looks on the perimeter. Not only could Young help Daniels, but Daniels could be the defensive partner that Young needs next to him.
Could Zaccharie Risacher make the starting lineup?
No. 1 draft picks typically start right away, but in Zaccharie Risacher’s situation, he’s coming to a team that has veteran options ahead of them, like Dyson Daniels and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Regardless of how long he’s been in the league, one thing that Risacher offers is length and shooting. Those are just a few of the reasons why they drafted him, and at some point, he will be a definite starter for the team. With what he brings, he would be the perfect player to put alongside Young.
For now, the Hawks may bring Risacher along slowly, but if he has a good training camp and preseason, there’s a chance he could make an impact early.
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