Biggest reason for and against the Hawks trading Trae Young

The offseason is just getting started for the Atlanta Hawks, but things got a lot more interesting on Sunday when they landed the first overall pick, winning the NBA Draft lottery for the first time ever. That provides a glimmer of hope for a franchise that desperately needed something to go their way. Yet, the Hawks winning the lottery hasn’t quelled the controversy surrounding the team. It only added more fuel to the fire, with some of the biggest names in NBA media suggesting this could make Atlanta even more willing to deal star point guard Trae Young and build for the future. 

“They had Dejounte Murray in trade talks. I think the possibility of trade talks including Trae Young in this spring and into the summer are very real, too,” ESPN’s lead NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said during the NBA lottery yesterday.

“Their choice, and the Hawks’ ascent to No. 1, immediately casts a further uncertainty about this unsettled class of players,” writes Jake Fisher of Yahoo! Sports. “Atlanta was already widely anticipated to be one of the more active teams of the offseason, having explored the trade market for All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray prior to February’s trade deadline, league sources told Yahoo Sports. And there’s a growing belief among rival teams that this summer will also put All-Star Trae Young on the league’s trade block. Perhaps Atlanta will look to attach the top pick to one of those players in their upcoming trade conversations.”

The Hawks will be involved in endless rumors and reports over the next several months, as they have been over the last few years. However, as we’ve seen, rarely do these rumors come to fruition. There’s always a lot more smoke than fire in The Association, but when it comes to Trae Young, there are arguments to be made for and against moving him.

Biggest Reason To Trade Trae Young

The NBA is a star driven league, and it’s been that way for quite some time. Prior to recently, Trae Young had never shown any inclination of playing anywhere else but Atlanta. That tune changed about a month ago after the Hawks were eliminated from the play-in tournament, when he said winning is his top priority, and if that can’t happen in Atlanta, change is in the future. It opened up the door to the possibility of him forcing his way out, which in this league, is the top of a very slippery slope.

The Hawks landing the first overall pick could give Young a little more patience with the organization; however, the longer they hold onto him, the less they will be able to fetch for him in a trade. This is the primary reason the Hawks should consider trading Trae Young. They now own the first overall pick, but they do not control their future picks because of the trade for Dejounte Murray a couple of offseasons ago. Trading Young now could allow the Hawks to completely restock their draft assets and then some while building around Dejounte Murray, Jalen Johnson, and whoever they draft first overall.

Biggest Reason Against Trading Trae Young

Like everything in this world, the NBA is a what have you done for me lately league. Right now, everyone is convinced Jalen Brunson is one of the best point guards in the league, capable of eventually leading the Knicks to an NBA Championship.

A few years ago, Trae Young was in a similar position. Except he at least led the Hawks to within a couple of games of the NBA Finals, and had he not gotten injured, may have actually won a championship. The Knicks aren’t going to sniff that level of success this season, but it won’t stop the Jalen Brunson hype train, which is deserved.

However, hype goes just as quickly as it comes. Young has not had any postseason success since that 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run, and now he’s viewed in a much different light than he was a few years ago.

The truth, like always, lies somewhere in the middle. Is Trae Young enough to win an NBA championship as the sole superstar on a team? Probably not, but he’s proven he can be the #1 with the right pieces around him. This is a 25-year-old who has averaged 25 points and 10 assists over the last five seasons. He’s also gotten the Hawks as close to the NBA Finals as any player since the franchise moved to Atlanta.

This city was looking for a superstar like Trae Young for nearly 30 years before he arrived. Now, they want him gone… for what? Because he hasn’t delivered an NBA Finals appearance with very little help before the age of 26? Trae Youngs don’t grow on trees, and if the Hawks trade him away, they might be waiting another 30 years to find a player of his caliber.