Before the season, if you had suggested the idea that the Atlanta Hawks' best path to winning a championship might involved trading Trae Young to the Minnesota Timberwolves, you would have sounded a little crazy. And yet, that's the exact reality we now find ourselves living in.
It's becoming impossible to ignore what the reality of this Hawks team is. In previous seasons, this group was completely falling apart at times when he wasn't on the floor. Now, they're absolutely built to succeed without him, and in fact they're even performing better without their point guard in certain areas.
One of those areas being on the defensive side of things. Young is a known negative as a defender, and Atlanta has spent years trying their best to hide him on defense and minimize his defensive shortcomings. Now, they're very much thriving as a unit on defense since he's been out of the lineup.
Navigating the concept of potentially trading Young has been a complicated matter. On the one hand, he's such an all-world offensive player and master in the pick-and-roll that it would almost seem ridiculous if you only looked at that part of it. But when you consider how much deficiency he brings on defense combined with his hefty contract, it makes sense that opposing GMs are highly skeptical of him.
The Timberwolves might be the ideal landing spot for Trae Young
But with that in mind, the Timberwolves and their current situation could present an ideal opportunity for the Hawks to take advantage of. Minnesota is in the market for a point guard, and has been exploring the market thoroughly. There have been rumors that they would consider bringing on Ja Morant, so what if they wanted a much less problematic option in Young?
There's no way around it: the Wolves' offense has some problems right now, particularly in clutch time. They need strong point guard play to help them begin to fix these issues, and they don't have a ton of reliable options on the roster at the moment. Mike Conley is aging, and Rob Dillingham's development isn't quite where they were hoping just yet.
This would seem to create ideal circumstances for Minnesota to have interest in trading for Trae. If such a situation were to arise wherein the two teams began talking about what a deal might look like, Atlanta would have the chance to potentially bring in players like Donte DiVincenzo and/or Naz Reid that would significantly bolster their rotation even more.
We're already seeing the Hawks thriving with a more diverse rotation and Jalen Johnson becoming the de-facto centerpiece for this team. If there were ever a time and a situation that would make the most sense to deal Trae Young away, this one with the Timberwolves would be it.