The trade winds are always gusty in the NBA this time of the year. Some of those winds blew into San Antonio just ahead of Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline.
The San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers worked out a three-team deal. The Spurs traded Doug McDermott to the Pacers but will receive veteran forward Marcus Morris Sr., a 2029 second-round pick from the Sixers and cash considerations. Indiana traded sharpshooter Buddy Hield to Philadelphia while the Pacers received guard Furkan Korkmaz and three second-round picks.
The Pacers will send the Spurs a future second-round pick, per source. https://t.co/L2USJDfxTc
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2024
McDermott, who reportedly purchased a home in Terrell Hills in 2022, was in the middle of his third full season with the team. Throughout his collegiate and professional career, he earned a reputation as one of basketball’s most consistent three-point shooters. That did not change while he wore the Silver and Black.
McDermott is a 41.2 percent three-point shooter for his career, which includes a sparkling 43.9 percent from the perimeter on 3.8 three-point attempts per game this season.
What is old is new again for McDermott, who is a Pacer for the second time in his 10th NBA season. He spent three years in Indianapolis from 2018-21 before he was part of a sign-and-trade deal that sent him to San Antonio in Aug. 2021.
The Spurs will be Morris Sr.’s eighth NBA team since he was drafted 14th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft from the University of Kansas. A native of Philadelphia, Morris Sr. is averaging 6.7 points per game on 40 percent three-point shooting.
The other big San Antonio-related trade rumor involved former Spur guard Dejounte Murray.
Former Orlando Magic guard-turned-NBA on TNT reporter Dennis Scott shared a piece of a conversation he had with Murray during the network’s Jan. 15 Spurs-Hawks broadcast. Murray told Scott he viewed Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich “like a father” and “would welcome” a trade back to San Antonio if it happened.
However, that trade did not come. Murray isn’t coming back to South Texas or heading anywhere else. In fact, Wojnarowski reported that the Atlanta Hawks are keeping Murray through the deadline.
After trading for Murray in June 2022, the Hawks signed Murray to a four-year contract extension worth $114 million last July. The new extension won’t officially go into effect until the 2024-25 NBA season.
The fourth year of the contract contains a player option clause, meaning that it will be up to Murray if he decides to remain with the Hawks for the 2027-28 NBA season or hit free agency one year early in Summer 2027.
Murray is averaging a career-high 21.4 points per game for Atlanta this season.
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