The Hawks are still in the midst of an injury riddled and disappointing season, but most Hawks fans and those around the league are more intrigued by what might be coming for Atlanta after the season. The Hawks were the most talked about team leading up to the NBA’s trade deadline, but they decided to stand pat and not make any moves.
So what might the Hawks do this offseason? Bleacher Report Analyst Grant Hughes says that the Hawks need to make sure that guard Trae Young is the franchise player moving forward:
“The Atlanta Hawks are in the midst of their longest-ever stretch without Trae Young—a time to evaluate the roster without its durable star, and maybe even ask some tough questions.
Young has made three All-Star Games, led an improbable conference finals run and topped the league in total assists twice. His abilities as a pick-and-roll ball-handler are beyond question, and he’s even improved as an off-ball threat this season after spending most of his career doing virtually nothing upon giving up the rock.
The overall results of Young’s six-year tenure remain disappointing. Atlanta has tried different co-stars alongside him, swapped out multiple coaches and even shaken up the front office. Despite all that, the Hawks seem further from joining the top ranks of the East than ever.
So during these next few weeks as Young recovers from surgery to his left pinky, Atlanta should make a sober evaluation of what life might be like without him.
The Hawks played all of their available cards in an effort to reach contender status—except one. Depending on how things go down the stretch, Atlanta could warm to the idea of moving on from Young, adding flexibility and building around Dejounte Murray and Jalen Johnson.”
There has been a lot of chatter about the status of Young this offseason, but most of that has come from rival executives and those outside of Atlanta. Young has not asked to be traded and it does not seem that the Hawks want to trade Young, nor should they.
Young was being interviewed by Taylor Rooks recently and was asked about the speculation surrounding his trade status:
“Hopefully? Like when I was drafted here, I envisioned… I could have went to Kentucky, I could have went to Kansas, but I chose to be different and go to Oklahoma and try to win a championship. I wanted to go there and win in my hometown. Be different.
They’d never won a championship in Atlanta.
Me getting drafted there felt like a match made in heaven. Like this is something that I want to do. I can defeat the odds here too.
For me, my whole vision was to always be here- like my whole goal is to win here. Win championships, bring people here with me and build this, this championship here and this dynasty here. But who knows? Like its year six now and who knows? Like for me, I want that.”
Rooks then asked Young to clarify that these trade rumors are not coming from him and that he wants to be in Atlanta:
“Yeah, I mean yeah, you’ve heard it from the source, like I wanna win but that’s what you’ve heard too. Like I just wanna win. So that’s, that’s in Atlanta. That’s, that’s where I want to be, that’s where I envision myself being. But that’s, that’s it, that’s it.”
There are some out there though that hope Trae finds his way out of Atlanta.
Former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins appeared with NBA commentator Rachel Nichols and had bold words to say about what Trae Young should want this summer and if we will ever see Young in a Hawks uniform again:
“I hope not. I hope this is the last time we see him in a Hawks uniform. I feel like his talent is being wasted, his prime is being wasted. Get healthy, get 100% correct whether that is in Atlanta or you know, fingers crossed, the San Antonio Spurs”
Nichols and Cousins talked about the idea of Young being traded to the Spurs and pairing up with budding superstar Victor Wembanyama:
“It’s a match made in heaven, it just makes sense. This Hawks team is not doing anything for his talent. I take it personal because I was in that situation once and hopefully this offseason, this is the season where he puts his foot down and uses his power and move to a situation that is going to be healthy for him.”
Nichols and Cousins talked about the idea of Young being traded to the Spurs and pairing up with budding superstar Victor Wembanyama:
“It’s a match made in heaven, it just makes sense. This Hawks team is not doing anything for his talent. I take it personal because I was in that situation once and hopefully this offseason, this is the season where he puts his foot down and uses his power and move to a situation that is going to be healthy for him.”
There has been speculation from rival executives and people outside of Atlanta, but remember, none of this trade talk is coming from Young or the Hawks.
We’ll see what transpires this summer.
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