When does Dejounte Murray make his first return to Atlanta as a Pelican?

The NBA regular season is an 82-game grind over six months. During some of the more grueling stretches, it can be easy for fans and players to lose focus or even grow bored. It's important for a team like the New Orleans Pelicans, one with title aspirations, to stay locked in throughout the year.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Player's Association President and current Pelican CJ McCollum have tried to keep things interesting during the regular season. In recent years, the league has implemented two major changes to keep teams motivated: the NBA Cup, or In-Season Tournament, and the Play-In Tournament. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement also added measures to prevent players from missing too many games, such as the 65-game requirement for anyone hoping to land on an All-League team or win one of the major awards.

Another way that teams and players can keep their spirits up is by giving themselves motivation through rivalry games. These can be against squads in close geographical proximity, divisional opponents, teams with elite players, etc. One of the most exciting premises, though, is when a recently transplanted star returns to his old city. Pelicans fans should be looking forward to Dejounte Murray's first matchup against the Atlanta Hawks in State Farm Arena.

Dejounte Murray will make his return to Atlanta early on in the 2024-25 NBA season

The first time that Dejounte Murray and the New Orleans Pelicans will get a look at the new Atlanta Hawks will actually be at home, towards the beginning of the season. On November 3, 2024, just seven games into the season, the Pellies will host Trae Young and the Hawks at the Smoothie King Center for their first clash of the year.

Murray and New Orleans are sure to have that game circled on their calendar too. It's important that they prove in this matchup that they made the right move by trading for Dejounte. Winning their first game against his former team at home will go along way toward building that case, lest they let the Hawks fans start an "addition by subtraction" narrative against Murray. Plus, Zion and the crew would love to welcome their old friends Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, and Cody Zeller back to the Bayou with a proper beatdown.

A few weeks after that early November spot, New Orleans will fly east to Atlanta to take on the Hawks in the State Farm Arena for the first time in the Dejounte Murray era. Murray caught a lot of flak from Hawks fans since his acquisition didn't work out for Atlanta. There were valid criticisms — like his waned defensive effort — but there were also a lot of disparagements that were uncalled for.

In a vacuum, Murray had a great year in Atlanta, having averaged over 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the field and 36 percent from deep. While he certainly could have brought more effort on the defensive end of the court, it's not exactly like an A+ showing from him would have made the Hawks into a good defensive team.

In the end, Murray was a poor fit alongside Trae Young in Atlanta, and the Hawks suffered due to it. But, he was hardly their only issue. Now, pundits have surmised that he'll fail to pan out in New Orleans next to CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson for the same reasons. It's on Murray to prove those detractors wrong, and crushing the Hawks in his first visit back in Atlanta will be a great way to do so.