Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young has been in trade rumors since last season where the the team was in the process of splitting the tandem between him and Dejounte Murray. Even with Murray traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, there is still speculation of Young being moved for a rebuild, but his market is in question in terms of a recent report by Zach Lowe of ESPN.
The two teams that have always been rumored to trade for Young, and even rumored to be his preferred options, have been the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, but even they have reportedly shown little interest. Lowe would even go as far as to say that Young's trade market “is as chilly as it has ever been.”
“The Lakers, too, have shown little recent interest in Young, sources said,” Lowe wrote. “That could change if the price drops to L.A.'s liking. But the market for Young is as chilly as it has ever been.”
How the Hawks and Spurs view a trade involving Trae Young
The Hawks could potentially be heading towards a rebuild with a younger lineup, even more youthful than Young who is still only 25 years old. Lowe would talk about Atlanta's viewpoint and how they had the No. 1 overall pick in the last draft where they took Zaccharie Risacher and believe Jalen Johnson, who is 22 years old, to be “untouchable.”
“The Hawks are resetting their roster and going somewhat younger behind No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher,” Lowe wrote. “Trae Young seems perhaps slightly out of place with that direction, but he's only 25. Jalen Johnson, the team's one true untouchable, is 22 — between Young and the coming youth movement.”
While the popular thought was to pair a point guard like Young with a huge talent like Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, the team “has not shown much interest” in trading their bevy of first round picks that they control through 2027. San Antonio could be on the come up and build around their 20 year old player by utilizing the draft than trading assets for an established player like Young.
“Young is potent enough to keep the Hawks around .500, and they don't have much incentive to tank so long as the Spurs control their first-round picks through 2027 thanks to the original Murray trade,” Lowe wrote. “The smoothest way to reclaim those picks is trading Young to the Spurs, but San Antonio has not shown much recent interest in that, sources said. The Spurs understand the potential value of those picks, and they (for now) appear to favor holding them hostage over swapping them back to Atlanta.”
Other teams coming for Trae Young due to trade value decreasing?
However, with the possible notion around the league that Young's trade value could be diminished, it could sprout some other teams who do not have a huge amount of assets to get the Hawks guard at a lower price. One team that comes to mind is the Miami Heat as they don't have as much draft picks as San Antonio, but have young, up and coming stars to give like a Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.
The problem there is that they would also have to trade a sizable contract since they are near the dreaded second apron and can only give more than they receive in terms of money. Young is in the midst of a five-year, $215 million deal where he will cost around $43 million this upcoming season.
Still, the Lakers could use a player like Young who is a dynamic scorer, can facilitate the ball, and obviously work well off of players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, they are also in financial troubles like the Heat so they might not believe the hassle is worth it.
Trae Young likely staying with the Hawks
Last season with the Hawks, Young averaged 25.7 points, 10.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 43 percent from the field 37.3 percent from beyond the arch. He has spent six seasons with Atlanta where he was drafted with the fifth overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the famous trade swap for Luka Doncic.
There has been success with the Hawks where Young led them to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. Since then, it has been first round exits in the playoffs and even last season where they lost the first play-in tournament game against the Chicago Bulls.
At the very moment, it seems very likely that Young stays with the Hawks unless another team jumps out of nowhere and gets him since he could be at a lower deal. However, depending on Atlanta's mindset, Young can help out the younger players like Risacher and Johnson in fortifying a foundation for the future as they look to improve after finishing with a 36-46 record which put them at the tenth seed.
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