The Atlanta Hawks had a lot of hope this season after reaching the semifinals of the NBA Cup at the beginning of the season. Star point guard Trae Young was surrounded by a plethora of athletic wing defenders, and the Hawks appeared to be a feisty dark horse in the Eastern Conference.

However, in part thanks to a season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson, the Hawks stumbled and eventually flamed out with back-to-back losses in the play-in tournament to eventually miss the playoffs. Atlanta had two chances to get into the final bracket, but a road loss to the Orlando Magic and a home defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat sent it home early.

Almost immediately after the loss, the focus shifted to talk about a potential Trae Young trade. Young and the Hawks have been running in place together ever since making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, so there is naturally some restlessness there. However, talks of a Young trade aren't exactly materializing, according to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer.

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“Atlanta's Trae Young? The noise on that front, compared to the chatter bubbling in Atlanta after the Hawks' 2023-24 season ended, has noticeably quieted down,” Stein and Fischer wrote. “The clearest possible read on Young's future with the Hawks will be easier to pinpoint with certainty once they secure a new lead decision-maker in the front office to replace the ousted Landry Fields, but talk of potential Young trades has undeniably faded after his generally strong 2024-25 season and return to All-Star status. Which is in sharp contrast to the past few seasons that ended with no shortage of Trae Trade Talk.”

This is good news for Hawks fans, who have seen their team finally find somewhat of a direction forward despite the bitter end to the season. Young is now surrounded by Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher and Johnson to go with Onyeka Okongwu, who made some major strides this season.

Young is still a very good offensive engine, while those other players can mask his deficiencies on defense. With a new general manager coming in next season after Landry Fields was fired, the new decision-maker will have plenty to work with if Young indeed ends up sticking around.