Former teammate delivers reality check to Hawks about Trae Young

The Atlanta Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons in 2023-24.

That shortcoming sparked the decision to trade Dejounte Murray and left the Hawks to retool around three-time All-Star Trae Young. 

However, Young remains a polarizing figure who many still believe cannot be the focal point of a championship-caliber team. Former Hawks star Jeff Teague – who was teammates with Young during the latter’s second season in 2019-20 – believes there is not much of a decision to make.

“Nah, bro. You can't trade Trae Young,” Teague told “Club 520” host DJ Wells in an episode that aired on August 22. “You got to still put butts in the seat, bro. He must-see TV when he hoop. He put on shows, he get 40, 28 [points]. Atlanta love him. The fans like him. So it's like, [you] can't do that. Not right now. Unless you about to get, s***, the No. 1 pick.”

Wells said trading Young was the final part of the Hawks’ current rebuild.

Teague – while referring to the Hawks as “we” – lamented that not getting the No. 1 pick in a draft with Cooper Flagg or AJ Dybansta, two of the more highly-touted upcoming prospects.

The Hawks landed 6-foot-10 (in shoes) Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, a class that was scrutinized before the order was set. Young has said he does not see any franchise players among Risacher’s draft class.

To Wells’ point, the Hawks with Young could be competitive enough to miss on Flagg in 2025.

“How you going to move 28 [points] and 10 [assists]?” Teague said. “What you getting for 28 and 10? I don't know nobody else getting 28 and 10.”

The panel agreed Risacher would have a fine career. But the lack of a high-end ceiling is far from ideal when discussing a No. 1 overall pick. The Hawks need the fit around Young to trump the talent drain of losing a former All-Star in Murray.

Risacher and fellow new addition Dyson Daniels are key to that.

Hawks retool has to take in 2024-25

They will join De’Andre Hunter as the Hawks’ top three perimeter defenders and a key to protecting Young, whose size will always make him a target in the postseason.

Young is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract. But he has a $48.9 million player option for the final season in 2026-27. That effectively gives the Hawks the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons to figure it out around him lest they risk losing him.

Young has said he has not won enough.

He led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21 but they have taken steps backward since then, missing the postseason in 2023-24 after back-to-back first-round exits.

Rumors floated around at the trade deadline and after the season that the Hawks were undecided on to trade between Murray and Young, who has repped Atlanta in multiple ways, chiding the league for having the Hawks on the road on MLK Day and rocking a notable hat.

The decision to trade him would seemingly be on the Hawks and would have a major impact.

After a tumultuous past three seasons, that may not be the wisest course of action organizationally for the Hawks.