According to the latest development, the Hawks officially win the Dejounte Murray trade

Dyson Daniels' performance in the Atlanta Hawks' season-opening win over the Brooklyn Nets was encouraging enough to bolster even the most optimistic outlook. And he made the Hawks' decision to sign him look even better.

Daniels played a key role in the Dejounte Murray trade, and while his performance doesn't just increase the Hawks' ceiling, it's not the main reason the Hawks officially won the trade.

They also didn't win because they received premium draft capital.

Instead, the Hawks officially won the Dejounte Murray trade for an otherwise unfortunate reason, as Murray broke his hand in the New Orleans Pelicans' season opener. According to ESPN's Shams Charania on October 23, he will be “sidelined indefinitely” while recovering.

Murray had 14 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds in the Pelicans' eventual 123-111 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Recovery times from hand fractures can range from weeks to months.

Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook, then playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, returned to the field 25 days after injuring his hand – 22 days after surgery – in March (last season). Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry missed three months of 2019.

If they had stuck with Murray, the Hawks would have been without their second-best player and with few options for substitution.

This is anything but a victory lap. Injuries suck and can happen to anyone.

We wish Murray a speedy and full recovery. Murray played hard and expanded his game with the Hawks. They also had to accept pennies on the dollar when it came to returns.

The Hawks did well to acquire Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. (DNP-CD in the opening game) as well as two potentially high-value draft picks from the Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers for Murray. But they gave up control of their own draft picks to acquire Murray in 2022.

This forces them to some extent to remain competitive.

Anything short of returning those picks cannot undo the initial Murray trade. But the Hawks managed to stay ahead despite widespread speculation about their intention to break up their star backcourt duo.

Hawks general manager Landry Fields is also a good sign that they have managed to achieve what they have achieved despite stricter CBA regulations for luxury tax teams.

Murray isn't the only Pelican injured.

Trey Murphy is recovering from a hamstring injury. How well the Pelicans cope with their absences is important, as the team has been mired in trade speculation since the offseason.

Any deal that could make the team worse in the meantime could trigger a rebuild, or at least a retooling, that would likely impact next season and perhaps even the year after that.

The Hawks will benefit the most from this.

The 2027 first-round pick available to them from the Pelicans will be either New Orleans' or the Milwaukee Bucks', with the Hawks getting the least favorable of the two as long as it doesn't fall within the first four picks.

Milwaukee could still have Giannis Antetokounmpo then. But the rest of their squad figures look completely different.

Both the Bucks and Pels could be so bad that the Hawks get a top-10 pick in both cases.