The latest round of trade speculation to surround Atlanta Hawks All-Star Trae Young is that the team would have moved him if they could have this offseason.
This is not necessarily a new bit of speculation, but it was fueled after comments from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. MacMahon said that if a trade market for Young existed, he would be playing elsewhere this coming season.
Presumably in light of that, Young took to Instagram.
He shared a post with a graphic that illustrated “The Made Up NBA Story Cycle” and captioned it “pretty much” on his Instagram on September 3.
Trae Young on the most recent trade speculation pic.twitter.com/NrRoJIW6Z6
— Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) September 3, 2024
MacMahon’s comments came in response to host Brian Windhorst, who made similar comments. Windhorst laid out how Young’s contract complicates things, noting his offensive skill but questioning his ability to “elevate a team.”
Insider takes aim at Trae Young's trade value amid Hawks rumors
“Listen, Trae definitely had some big-time moments during that playoff run ,” MacMahon said on “The Hoop Collective” on August 30. “The guy's bowing and at midcourt at Madison Square Garden. He's had Play-In games too where like – he's not scared of the moment. That's for sure. He loves the stage.
“If Trae Young's your best player, I think it’s going to be tough to get to the stage very often. And you hit it. The simple fact of the matter is, if there was a real market for Trae Young he'd be somewhere else right now. It's not like they got some kind of wild blockbuster return for Dejounte Murray. It was okay. But it wasn't anything comparable to some of the other star trades that we see.
“The San Antonio Spurs. If they wanted Trae Young, they easily could have gone and gotten him. And that wasn't even a bet on Trae Young as your best player. That was try Young as your second-best player. So again, … there wasn't a real market for Trae Young.
“He doesn't necessarily need to reestablish a trade market for himself. But as you said, as extension talks are coming, I think he does have to reestablish his value.”
MacMahon went on to call it a “bad situation” for Young and the Hawks.
The Spurs own at at least swap rights to the Hawks’ first-round picks through 2027. They have firsts from the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Sacramento Kings during that span. But they do not have the ability to be as bad as possible for a high draft pick.
Young has maintained he wants to stay with the Hawks and win. Whether the Hawks are set up to do that in the not-too-distant future remains to be seen.