The Atlanta Hawks fell to 41-36 following their 109-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night. It has been a mediocre campaign at best for Atlanta in 2023-24, yet they are still holding the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference which will place them in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Hawks, though, may need to consider making a roster change after this year.
According to a recent ESPN article written by Zach Lowe, the Hawks’ Trae Murray-Dejounte Murray duo has not gone according to plan. Lowe notes that the Hawks are 12-9 since Young went down with an injury.
Of course, the point that is being made is not to criticize Trae Young. After all, he is one of the best guards in the NBA. Rather, the point is that Murray and Young have not produced much winning for the Hawks.
Lowe used various stats to back up his point, such as the Hawks being 15th in defense since losing Young and 30th in defense before the injury. Offensively, Atlanta has out-scored opponents by 2.4 points per 100 possessions during their past 15 games.
The Hawks still may be an NBA Play-In Tournament team in 2023-24, but they need to hit the reset button in order to build a serious contender once again.
Why don’t Trae Young, Dejounte Murray work together?
Murray and Young are both good players.
Young, 25, was averaging 26.4 points per game on 42.6 percent field goal and 37.1 percent three-point shooting before the injury. He was also recording 10.8 assists and 1.4 steals per outing.
Murray, meanwhile, is averaging 22.5 points per game on 46.1 percent field goal and 36.4 percent three-point shooting. He is averaging 5.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game as well.
The Hawks’ two-guard set needs a dominant wing and/or post player to truly find success. Murray and Young are both talented guards, but they have not been able to consistently lead Atlanta to victories.
Lowe suggests that the Hawks should consider trading one of them to add picks. And in all reality, he’s correct in his assessment.
So do the Hawks trade their franchise player, or a guard they acquired a couple of years ago? It all depends upon which player Atlanta wants to build around.
Murray is 27 and extremely talented, but trading him arguably makes more sense. Young has been with the Hawks since he made his NBA debut and has displayed the ability to perform well in clutch situations. Adding another star or two that better complements him while providing depth on the roster will be the key for the Hawks.
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