Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young’s future is uncertain if the trade deadline chatter proves true, with the front office exploring their options with the three-time All-Star.
He still has three years and $138 million on his five-year, $215.1 million contract.
Young also has maintained that he wants to stay in Atlanta so long as the front office’s goal is to compete. But Young can opt out of the deal one year early, which pushes the Hawks’ timeline forward.
We’ve looked at the best potential packages for Young, but what about the best landing spots?
It would have to be a team that’s already contending or would get there with potential Young’s addition, meaning the trade itself can’t undo them.
1) Trae Young could help Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves get over the hump
The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2003-04 season. They also appear destined for a similar fate.
The Timberwolves lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in 2004.
This year, they find are trailing Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks three games to one. Minnesota has been plagued by issues with their late-game offense and general execution in the series.
Young finished last season tied with the seventh-most clutch points per game among players with at least 10 such contests with 3.5 points per game.
He was among the league leaders in 2022-23 too, pointing to a potential fit in Minny.
It’s not a pairing that makes sense at first blush; pairing Young with another ball-dominant star in Dejounte Murray hasn’t played out as desired. There is reason to believe a similar pairing with Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards would suffer the same fate.
Karl-Anthony Towns had the second-highest usage rate among players with 60-plus appearances on the Timberwolves in the regular season at 27.4%, per Basketball Reference.
Edwards could come down from his career-high 32.4% mark.
Young’s usage rate has not been below 30% since his rookie season, reaching its second-lowest point this past year at 30.5%. That still represents a second consecutive drop from the previous season.
Wherever Young lands – or even if he stays with the Hawks – he will likely have to share the ball more. But that is especially true if the team is already a contender.
He did shoot 38.9% on catch-and-shoot threes last season, per NBA.com tracking data.
2) The Magic are a point guard away and Trae Young could be the answer
Much of the talk around the Orlando Magic revolves around needing another scorer to complement Paolo Banchero next season. But a closer look at the roster reveals the lack of a true table-setter.
The Magic snapped a three-year playoff drought with Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, and Markelle Fultz running the point. All of them are markedly better scorers than facilitators.
There are few better than Young in that regard.
It can get lost amid the discourse around his reputation league-wide. But Young led the league in total assists two years in a row, in addition to leading in total points during the 2021-22 campaign.
He is also a pick-and-roll maestro. Pairing him with Banchero could take both players to new heights.
The same goes for whatever remaining pieces Orlando has.
A lineup featuring Young, Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs could be interesting for Orlando. Orlando can generate the cap space to mitigate the need to match salaries in a potential deal for Young.
Atlanta could take a chance on an expiring contract in Jonathan Isaac and a feisty backup guard in Cole Anthony.
Anthony has two years plus a club option left on his contract.
The Hawks could also pursue 2023 first-round pick Anthony Black in lieu of draft capital. Either Anthony or Black would form a feisty backup backcourt with the Hawks’ 2023 first-round pick, Kobe Bufkin.
The drawback is trading Young to a division rival means seeing him more frequently during the regular season.
3) Heat Culture offers perfect cover for Trae Young
The Miami Heat offer the same obvious drawback as the Magic as a division rival. But this exercise is about the best landing spots for Young. Very few are as ready-made as the Heat in terms of infrastructure.
Young and incumbent Heat star Jimmy Butler would seem to clash on the floor, with both proving most effective on the ball in their careers.
But similar to Young, Butler shot a healthy 40.7% on catch-and-shoot looks last season.
With a versatile defender on the back line like Bam Adebayo, and a history of cobbling together defensively stout groups, the Heat have only lacked the kind of instant offense that Young can provide.
What Miami lacks in draft capital it can make up for in salaries, with a package centered around Tyler Herro among the more viable starting points on this list.
The Hawks could use Caleb Martin and Jaime Jaquez too.
The ultimate appeal of an offer like what Miami could put together would depend on what direction Hawks General Manager Landry Fields wants to take the team. And Young doesn’t exactly fit Heat Culture as well as it would suit him.
However, few front offices have shown an ability to build a competitive roster around its star than the Heat of recent memory.
The Heat have made the playoffs five years running and have missed just five times since 1996.
4) Hawks' Trae Young was made for the bright lights of LaLa Land
Young was a star in Oklahoma before Atlanta. And he has always laid claim to his Texas roots. But his highlight-reel game is built for the bright lights of a major market. That’s not to say that he should leave the 404.
If he does, though, Los Angeles – specifically the Lakers – would be a fitting destination for Young.
His fit alongside LeBron James is questionable, though their positional difference could help.
However, Young’s fit with Anthony Davis would be among the more dangerous pick-and-roll combinations in the league. And like the other bigs mentioned before him, Davis’ defensive capabilities would do a lot to cover up Young’s deficiencies.
The rest of their roster is questionable, especially with how it might look following such a major trade.
But the allure of Los Angeles has long been a talking point in free agency rumors.
Having Young in place might help marry that outlook with more encouraging long-term prospects on the court. That might mean more to free agents than living in the state, helping to field a suitable roster around Young.
The uncertainty keeps the Lakers from being the top landing spot. And Young’s recent split from Klutch Sports Group to rival CAA could mean the Lakers are even further down the list.
They still beat the Clippers for this spot due to the draft picks they can send in a potential deal.
5) San Antonio Spurs could use Hawks' Trae Young as table-setter
Young would be an ideal set-up man for young phenom Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft. His young teammates did not find him as often as possible last season, which would not be an issue for Young.
The Hawks star has regularly integrated his bigs into his offensive attack.
He formed strong lob and pick-and-roll connections with John Collins before his trade to the Utah Jazz and Clint Capela.
Wembanyama was an All-Defensive selection in addition to Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie honors and leading the league in blocks. The potential on-court pairing has been of rumored interest to both players.
But there are doubts about the fit on the Spurs side.
The potential return might do little to help the Hawks remain competitive in light of such a move. The Spurs also won just 22 games last season, and have never been a free agency destination.
Even with Wembanyama, it could take some time for the Spurs to field a true contender in a stacked Western Conference. Surrendering assets to acquire Young would be a major hindrance to that effort.
It also has not been the Spurs’ MO to surrender significant assets in such a move.
They were the big sellers in the organization’s last blockbuster trade, which sent Kawhil Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
Honorable mentions: Teams just missed the cut as top potential landing spots for Hawks' Trae Young
Phoenix Suns: Pairing Young with two other offensive dynamos – a trade would presumably mean one of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, or Bradley Beal is traded – might seem counter-intuitive.
However Young fits with any two of the three, while Suns owner Matt Ishbia has shown a willingness to throw convection out the window.
Their limited assets make them the longest of shots without other transactions.
The Suns have just two draft picks that can be traded, and that is only if they wait until draft night when they can move this year’s pick (No. 22 overall) after selecting and their 2031 first-rounder. That likely keeps them out of the running before they could even get in.
New Orleans Pelicans: They roster the best potential centerpiece among this group, with Brandon Ingram mired in trade rumors of his own this offseason. For Young, Zion Williamson makes for a dynamic partner that would be a load for opponents to solve.
Williamson’s injury history is the clearest drawback to this potential landing spot.
The Pelicans have ample draft capital to offer in a potential package as well. But they have not fared much better than the Hawks as a playoff threat.
They have just two postseason appearances in the last five years. That baked-in injury risk and the Pelicans’ track record only underscore that going from Atlanta (No. 7) to New Orleans (No. 51) would be a significant step down in markets.