During the 2018 NBA Draft, there were two guards who got traded for each other and their legacies were forever intertwined since then. Luka Doncic was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks due to his raw talent coming out of Real Madrid but was eventually traded. Who was the guy he was swapped with? It was Trae Young out of Oklahoma who quickly got the trust of Mark Cuban and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks system. These two would make for spectacular guards in the league.
A tale of two NBA Draft prospects in 2018
As of the moment, Luka Doncic has been experiencing more success after that historic NBA Draft. He has led the Mavericks to two appearances in the Western Conference finals. He also still has a realistic shot of winning it all because they are up one to nothing against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is where the misplaced vitriol towards Trae Young comes in. A select group of the Hawks faithful clamored that they stick with their pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Looking back, some of them would not have made the trade but the knowledge of the future is never passed down to the past. Trae Young's father is wise enough to know this. This is why he called out the terrible behavior of the Hawks fans on X.
“If this upsets you, imagine how bad it would’ve been if Luka would’ve just announced it ‘I’m only going to Dallas, to be with my mentor Dirk & the owner that flew to Spain 5 times to hang with me & my family!' He was NEVER COMING,” Ray Young wrote.
In all fairness, Mark Cuban and the Mavericks were already courting Luka Doncic before that NBA Draft. The expectation was that they were going to pull some assets anyway. So, the Hawks faithful might be relying on false hopes and some bad hindsight too.
Trae Young's stint with the Hawks so far
The production has always been there for Young. Someone who averages 25 points with a 43% clip from all three levels of scoring and 37.3% from three sounds like a star for the Hawks. His ability to drop dimes constantly also nets them 9.5 assists every night for the past six seasons.
He constantly puts up numbers to set up the offense. So, what's the problem? It hasn't quite led to much success in the postseason so far. They have constantly exited the NBA Playoffs quite early despite having a healthy squad. The Hawks were able to eventually find glory by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals three seasons ago but that's the only bright spot in Young's era so far.
They did give him help with Dejounte Murray but that was all the small market team could do. That chapter in Hawks history might also be closing soon because the two don't mesh well. When one of them is the primary ball handler, the other is unable to thrive on off-ball movement. So, what's next for the Hawks? Maybe it's to scour for another star or do an overhaul of talent to mesh well with their current core. Nonetheless, they need to move the needle.
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