For years, a segment of Atlanta Hawks fans has lamented the draft-night trade that brought in Trae Young and sent Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks.
Another segment wants nothing more than for the Hawks to trade Young.
Both groups can take something from the Mavericks’ trade sending Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Moreover, so can the Hawks. They were seemingly justified in trading Doncic, even if their reasoning had nothing to do with the issues that plague the five-time All-NBA pick now.
According to ESPN’s Tim Macmahon, the Mavericks were concerned about Doncic’s approach to his conditioning.
“The Mavs had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Doncic due to his constant conditioning issues and the looming commitment of another supermax contract extension this summer, sources told ESPN.”
The Hawks have not had to worry about Young’s conditioning.
There have always been concerns about Young’s durability at his size. Still, he has averaged 64.6 starts per season in his career. Doncic is just above 60.3 per year in his.
Doncic is said to need an MRI on his injured calf. A deeper-rooter, potentially long-term issue would alter the math on the trade. But there is a larger issue at play that Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison laid out as a reason for trading the Mavs superstar.
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison told ESPN about making the blockbuster deal, per MacMahon on February 1. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
If the Hawks wanted a sign they too could do the same, that was it.
The Hawks can point to concerns about building out a championship roster around Young, who has stepped up defensively in recent seasons, as the impetus to trade him.
To be clear, Young has not demanded or even hinted at wanting a trade publicly. He has said in no uncertain terms that he is not trying to bide his time waiting to contend much longer while the organization chooses a path.
The ball is in the Hawks’ court
“Everybody knows, obviously, I want to be in Atlanta. When I was drafted, that’s where I wanted to spend my whole career. But at the same time, I want to win. So if we’re not on the same page wanting to win now...,” Young said on the “From The Point” podcast on April 30. “There’s times teams want to take their time, be slow with winning, their process.
“I’m not there anymore. I want to win, and I’ve always been that way, so. I don’t feel like I have very much time to waste. I just want to continue to play at a high level.”
The trade deadline is on February 6.
However, this situation could certainly linger into the offseason. There were rumors of the rival teams feeling as though the Hawks might make Young available and even of talks with the San Antonio Spurs.
In the end, the Hawks traded Dejounte Murray instead of Young, but some believe that was about value rather than preference.
“If Trae Young's your best player, I think it’s going to be tough to get to the stage very often,” Macmahon said on the “Hoop Collective” in August 2024. The simple fact of the matter is, if there was a real market for Trae Young he'd be somewhere else right now. It's not like they got some kind of wild blockbuster return for Dejounte Murray. It was okay. But it wasn't anything comparable to some of the other star trades that we see.”
That last line could also be key for the Hawks, who can probably cross the Lakers off for Young.
Many have touted the new-look Mavercks’ viability with Anthony Davis joining Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and the rest of the supporting cast. But the return the Maververics received for Doncic was also called underwhelming in many circles even with all the potential red flags.
That takes the pressure off the Hawks to ensure they receive the haul of hauls if they truly feel their best path forward is without Young.
Until that happens, though, he remains the rightful face of the franchise.