Recently, reports broke from ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania that the Atlanta Hawks were working with Trae Young and his agents on a trade to send the multi-time All-Star to a new team. The news comes amid what has been a rough stretch for the Hawks of late, with the team just 2-8 this season with Young in the lineup.
One team that many fans have pointed to as a potential trade destination is the Milwaukee Bucks, a team looking to surround star Giannis Antetokounmpo with as much star talent as possible. However, recently, NBA insider Jake Fischer pointed out a major issue with those talks.
“…matching Young's $46 million salary this season would almost certainly require parting with too many key members of Milwaukee's current rotation to rationalize such a move,” reported Fischer on Marc Stein's Substack.
He also noted that “…it's difficult to see Milwaukee making a pitch for Young that goes beyond the combined salaries of Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis Jr. Even that might be a stretch.”
Fischer pointed out that the Hawks might ask for Myles Turner in a potential Young deal, but also that the Bucks went to great lengths to get Turner this summer, waiving and stretching Damian Lillard's contract, so parting ways with him this quickly would be a tough pill to swallow.
Overall, most insiders seem to be pointing to the Washington Wizards as the most likely destination for Young, considering their desire to speed up their rebuild, matching salaries in the form of some of their veteran players, and their need for a true point guard to help orchestrate their offense, a bill that Young certainly fits.
At this point, it remains to be seen how long this process between Young and the Hawks will drag out before the former face of the franchise is in a new city.
