The Atlanta Hawks have no way to turn the Trae Young trade saga into a clear win after a series of developments on Monday night. At the very best, they might walk away with an even deal. At worst, they could be forced to attach picks to offload the star point guard.
Young’s trade value is at an all-time low as of early January. His perception around the league has slowly deteriorated since his legendary 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run, but Atlanta expected that to change this season. They finally assembled a team perfectly built to compete around him, stacked with the shooting to capitalize on Young’s otherworldly passing and the length to cover for his poor defense.
This season did not go according to plan
Nobody expected the Hawks (and Young) to fall this far, however. After a slow start to the season, Young suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for 22 games. During Young’s absence, the Hawks went on a scorching 13-9 run (59% record), where they peaked as high as the third seed in the East.
When Young returned, however, the team was already losing its momentum. Atlanta was 2-4 in their last six games before his return due to Kristaps Porzingis’s extended absence with an illness. The Hawks were already losing games becayse of their horrid interior defense and rebounding, and nobody would expect Young to solve this problem.
Consequently, the Hawks went 0-5 in Young’s first five games back from injury. To any Hawks fan, it was beyond clear that Young wasn’t the problem. After a rough first game back (which can be expected), he dropped two 30+ point games and two games with 10+ assists. Trae was doing his job – scoring and setting the table for his teammates on offense.
The problem, of course, was that the Hawks had one center available, and even he stands just 6’8. The Hawks allowed far too many paint looks (they ranked in the bottom quartile of rim attempts allowed across all five games), and opponents finished at a high clip on those opportunities. What was Trae supposed to do to solve the team’s interior woes?
While fans know Young isn’t the reason Atlanta has struggled, he still hasn't proven he can be a winning player over the last five years. Rival GMs took notice of the team’s struggles with Young on the floor and adjusted their trade packages accordingly.
At this point, nobody will trade any remotely valuable asset for Young. He’s been deemed a “toxic asset” across the league, to the point where insiders believe the Hawks might have to attach a pick simply to get off his contract.
Nobody thought Young would fall this far. Now that he has, Atlanta is backed into a corner. Young is working with the team on a trade, but rival teams don’t see him as a positive-value trade asset.
GM Onsi Saleh has his work cut out for him.