Dejounte Murray Makes Half-Million Dollar Shot

When you think "half-million dollar shot", you'll likely think of one of those once-in-a-lifetime halfcourt heaves by some lucky entrant plucked out of the crowd. But Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks merely had to do something he'd already done 122 times this season—hit a three. And with his 123rd make from beyond the arc this week, he activated a huge bonus in his contract. 

🚨Bonus Alert🚨

Dejounte Murray

The Atlanta guard has earned a $500K bonus for 123 made three pointers this season.

Atlanta is now $1.1M below the tax and the Murray cap hit in 2023-24 will get adjusted to $18.2M.

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 11, 2023

Murray had a $500,000 bonus baked into his deal for cracking the 123 made-threes mark. He'd only ever had as many as 96 threes in a single season before this one. 

As also noted by NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks, teams will often take into consideration bonuses that are "trending toward likely" at the trade deadline in making personnel decisions. Which explains why the Hawks shipped out Justin Holiday and Frank Kaminsky for less salary.

Murray is shooting 36.1% from long range this season, also a big increase from last year, when he shot just 32.7% from outside. In his first year in Atlanta, the 26 year old is also averaging 20.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

The half-mill bonus takes his $16.6M salary this season over the $17M mark. He's also set to earn $17.7M in the last year of his contract next season.

Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports