Atlanta Hawks: Could Donovan Mitchell be a perfect fit with Trae Young?

A lot of NBA mock trades involve getting Trae Young a backcourt partner that fits perfectly. Could Donovan Mitchell be that partner?

It’s pretty clear that Atlanta Hawks fans don’t want to see Trae Young traded and they would much rather see the Hawks find him a suitable backcourt mate. While this task is certainly easier said than done, it can definitely be done.

Considering Trae Young’s offensive firepower and defensive ineptitude, the Atlanta Hawks need to find him a backcourt mate that can serve as both a secondary ballhandler/scorer and an elite primary perimeter defender. There are a lot of shooting guards in the league that fit this bill, most notably, Victor Oladipo, Klay Thompson and Donovan Mitchell.

Considering the supposed recent tension between Utah Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, it appears that one or both of them may be up for grabs in a trade. Even if these rumours are untrue, it’s always fun to imagine what these stars could look like on other teams.

Trae Young has yet to prove that he can turn his individual success into wins for the team, but Donovan Mitchell has. Mitchell has been a star for the Utah Jazz in his first three NBA seasons and after making the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, he was named to the All-Star game this year and appears to only be getting better.

It feels like the Atlanta Hawks are on the precipice of becoming a playoff team and once that happens they will need to shift their focus onto an NBA championship. As currently constructed, however, they have the talent of a borderline playoff team. By making a massive trade for a guy like Donovan Mitchell, that would put them into the upper echelon of playoff teams.

Dan Favale from Bleacher Report recently asked fans for trades they would like their team to make and put them all in one article titled Realistic Trades NBA Fanbases Desperately Want to See. One Atlanta Hawks fan proposed this trade:

This trade is incredibly interesting, especially from the Atlanta Hawks perspective.

The Atlanta Hawks get better defensively by adding Donovan Mitchell and they do so without sacrificing too much of their current assets. Unfortunately, this is somewhat of an all-in move and would seriously jeopardize the Hawks future if it didn’t work out.

If the Atlanta Hawks did this trade they would have a starting lineup that looks something like Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, De’Andre Hunter, John Collins and Clint Capela. That would also leave Cam Reddish coming off the bench as a really high-level sixth man. If they added in a few veteran role players, this could be a seriously dangerous team.

The trade would also keep things open financially for the Atlanta Hawks as Donovan Mitchell is still on his rookie-scale contract through next season. This could allow the Hawks to really go all in and potentially sign another star in this offseason. Possibly even one of the guys in the related story below.

From the perspective of the Utah Jazz, I, unfortunately, don’t think this trade makes a lot of sense. The Jazz are currently on the brink of being an NBA finals contender and trading Donovan Mitchell, despite the potential chemistry issues, doesn’t make much sense.

However, it’s much more fun to think about how well Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell would complement each other in the backcourt for the Atlanta Hawks. Trae Young is one of the best ball handlers and playmakers in the NBA (9.3 assists per game) and Donovan Mitchell is one of the best scorers (24.2 points per game) and young perimeter defenders.

Trae Young would also relieve a lot of what Mitchell has been asked to do in Utah offensively and that would give Mitchell the ability to focus more defensively in order to relieve Young on that end. It’s as close to a perfect match as you can find.

If this trade were ever to occur, they would certainly be in the conversation for best backcourt in the NBA and could easily grab that title in a few years. Young and Mitchell together would not only be an incredible fit but also incredibly fun to watch and it would likely lead to a lot of wins for the Hawks.

Currently, this trade seems like a pipe dream, but things could easily change. The NBA is always evolving and star players are always becoming disgruntled so if it’s not Donovan Mitchell, there will likely be another star shooting guard that the Hawks could acquire.

Overall, this trade would be ideal for the Atlanta Hawks, Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell but less than ideal for the Utah Jazz which will likely prevent it from happening… for now.