Jalen Johnson has been incredible this season for the Atlanta Hawks, and with that, Trae Young’s departure could be imminent. “Lesson after one month: There might be a blueprint for the post-Trae Young era," Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast. Johnson has been that good.
The Hawks have been a better basketball team with Young on the sidelines this year, and as they figure out what to do this summer, Johnson’s emergence as a genuine star could clear some things up for them. It could be time to stop building around Young and start building around Johnson as soon as this offseason.
That could be the reality Atlanta needs to accept.
Should Hawks trade Trae Young?
Young has a player option for next season, but he likely wants to ink a new deal that would get him paid even more money. However, at this point, it may be in Atlanta’s best interest to trade him and build around Johnson.
For as great a player as Young is, and he is one of the best offensive players in the NBA, the limitations he has on the defensive end will always put a ceiling on the Hawks.
Unfortunately for Atlanta, Young is simply not a good defender. He’s small, and teams pick on him incessantly, putting the rest of the team in some tough spots when they have to help.
Instead of building around him, Johnson gives the Hawks a guy who is clearly a very talented playmaker, but in a much, much different build than Young.
Johnson is a 6-foot-9 point forward who can run the show for the Hawks while also guarding threes and fours, giving Atlanta a lot more versatility on both sides of the ball.
If the Hawks trade Young and choose to build around Johnson, they would have the opportunity to create a roster full of rangy, athletic wings who are versatile on both ends of the court.
Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil-Alexander Walker, and Zaccharie Risacher are all very talented wings/forwards, and whatever they get back for Young in a deal would obviously help, too. And that’s without even mentioning Kristaps Porzingis and Onyeka Okongwu.
It’s almost inevitable that Johnson will be an All-Star this season. He has taken the leap that the Hawks envisioned him taking when they drafted him.
So, with how well Johnson is playing this year, it seems written in the sand that Atlanta should look to trade Young this summer, moving forward into a new, Johnson-led era of Hawks basketball.