Dejounte Murray traded from Atlanta to New Orleans

A former Washington star was involved in the first blockbuster trade of the NBA offseason.

Former Washington Huskies star Dejounte Murray has been a hot commodity on the trade block for a while and on Friday afternoon, he learned that he would be on the move for the second time in his NBA career.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the 2021 All-Star guard is headed to the New Orleans Pelicans to star alongside Zion Williamson in exchange for two first-round picks, center Larry Nance Jr., and guard Dyson Daniels.

Murray should anchor the Pelicans’ backcourt alongside CJ McConnell and the 2017-18 honoree on the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team brings a strong presence that should be very valuable to coach Willie Green. After being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, the former Husky could help the Pelicans compete in a loaded Western Conference.

He’s coming off a season where he averaged a career-high 22.5 points per game alongside Trae Young while also carrying a personal best 52.8 effective field goal percentage. Entering the first year of a four-year, $120 million extension that he had initially signed with Atlanta, Murray gives the Pelicans an extremely valuable piece to build around who is also under team control for the foreseeable future.