The Atlanta Hawks have been thrust unwillingly into the spotlight as the national media has taken notice of the hot streak following Trae Young’s knee injury. While there is no indication the club is listening to trade offers, the emergence of Jalen Johnson has given the team a clear path forward if contract negotiations with Young break down.
But Johnson’s emergence shouldn’t encourage the Hawks to trade Young – it should be the reason they go all-in on this era.
A Trae Young trade does not make sense for the Hawks in any scenario
Simply put, you don’t find offensive engines as effective as Trae Young. The squad has sorely lacked a true point guard with Young out, and turnover problems have been a common thread in each of their losses. Any potential Trae trades would have to yield a competent starting point guard, but the teams that would want him have a hole at the one.
Atlanta’s hot streak has come against worse and/or injury-riddled teams, which has misrepresented what this team is without Young. It is important that they can secure wins against inferior competition without Young, no doubt, but Atlanta is not a playoff threat without Young, despite their place in the standings. They dropped all three of their matchups against legitimate playoff competition: the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
For a recent example of what life without Young would look like, look to the Sacramento Kings’ mishandling of De’Aaron Fox. After eight years of Fox-led teams without playoff success, the Kings were hesitant to extend him a max contract. This was probably the correct decision at the moment, as their roster was nowhere near good enough to compete in the West. But this was only possible because they backed themselves into a corner where their only options were to trade Fox or buckle in for five more mediocre years.
They instead traded him for two borderline NBA players and two first round picks from teams led by Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards, who will be in their primes. While this trade was better than losing him for nothing in free agency, the Kings clearly were ripped off.
Atlanta finds itself in a similar situation. At this point, any potential Young trade would be seen as a desperate move by the rest of the league. Bidders would have all the leverage, and the Hawks would be left with pennies on the dollar.
The only 1:1 point guard swap that is possible at the moment is Young for Ja Morant, but this would be a disastrous move. Atlanta needs shooting and playmaking at the one, neither of which is a strong suit of Morant’s. When paired with Dyson Daniels, the Hawks would have the worst shooting backcourt of any team this decade. Perhaps Young isn’t perfect, but he’s clearly the better option moving forward.
While the national media will have fun with the Hawks’ winning streak and thrust Trae into trade conversations, this just isn’t a realistic outcome. The team has finally shown it can win. Why would the franchise ruin that by trading Young for a handful of late first-round picks?