The Hawks are expected to field trade offers on most of their roster.
A report from Marc Stein said that Atlanta is expected to dangle Clint Capela on the trade market, and Michael Scotto also reported more recently that the club is expected to put De’Andre Hunter on the trade block.
That doesn’t even begin the conversation about what could happen this offseason in Atlanta. The biggest domino to fall this summer will be whether the Hawks trade Trae Young or Dejounte Murray.
If you ask five different people, you’ll get five different answers on what the club should do. There’s a small portion that believes the Hawks should trade both and start completely over. Some believe Atlanta should build around Dejounte Murray because he’s a bigger and better defender on a team-friendly contract, while Trae Young will also bring more back in a trade.
But if you ask national pundits, they believe the Hawks should trade Trae Young to a contender for a bag of basketballs. ESPN named a Trae Young trade to the Lakers one “that needs to happen.”
Young, as someone who shared ballhandling responsibility with Dejounte Murray the past two seasons in Atlanta, fits that bill. His efficiency can wane; particularly from deep, but he’s also a playmaker whose penetration would create easy looks for Davis, who would immediately become the best big Young has ever played with. You can already imagine how confused defenders will be in trying to decipher Young-Davis pick-and-rolls, and ascertaining whether Young is shooting floaters — he ranked in the league’s 98th percentile, per Second Spectrum, in terms of how often he attempted them — or throwing lobs for Davis.
All that said: Young isn’t a free agent. Acquiring him would mean the Lakers deciding to part ways with draft picks and a handful of very solid players: guard Austin Reaves, forward Rui Hachimura and one of either Gabe Vincent or Jarred Vanderbilt.
Russell, who the club held onto at the trade deadline as he was in the midst of the hottest shooting stretch of his career, would need to opt out in order for Young to become a Laker.
Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and one of Gabe Vincent or Jarred Vanderbilt along with a couple of first-round picks at the beginning of the next decade makes me want to puke.
National pundits will completely bash the Hawks, particularly Trae Young, until it’s time for trade season. ESPN is the ring leader in this regard. If the Hawks did complete this trade, ESPN talk shows would immediately begin to praise the Lakers and declare them favorites to win the championship, while not mentioning the lowly Hawks.
The Hawks are just a tool to get big market teams better to these people. In reality, Atlanta shouldn’t even consider dealing Trae Young to Los Angeles because they don’t have nearly enough to offer.
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Photographer: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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