Surprise Suitor Emerges As Trae Young, Hawks Move Toward Trade

It appears the Trae Young era in Atlanta is set to come to an end sooner rather than later. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Monday that Young’s agents have begun working with the Hawks to facilitate a trade that would send the 27-year-old All-Star to a new franchise in exchange for what should be a somewhat lucrative return.

Young, now in his eighth season, has spent his entire career with the Hawks organization after he was swapped in a draft-day trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic in a trade that has largely shaped each franchise, for better or worse, in the near-decade since. With Doncic shockingly ending up with the Lakers at the trade deadline last season, both the Hawks and Mavericks will likely have washed their hands of the swap within a calendar year of each other.

(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Thanks For The Memories

The highlight of Young’s stint in Atlanta was the Hawks’ run to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, most notable for the then-22-year-old’s lights-out performance against an out-for-blood Knicks crowd at Madison Square Garden that was experiencing its first taste of playoff success in the better part of a decade.

At that time, it appeared the Hawks had an untouchable asset and were just a few minor moves away from becoming a legit NBA title contender. That scenario never materialized.

Another one of the memorable moments of Young’s time with the Hawks also came against the Knicks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals in 2024. After advancing to the semifinals in Las Vegas with a 108-100 win at the Garden, Young trolled the Knicks by rolling an imaginary pair of dice on their logo.

Surprise Suitor

In the immediate aftermath of the announcement of Young’s pending departure, a surprise suitor emerged as an early frontrunner to acquire him. According to NBA Insider Marc Stein, the Washington Wizards have expressed “legitimate interest” in bringing Young on board in a trade centered around the remaining half-season of C.J. McCollum’s bloated $30.7 million contract.

“The Wizards have been actively exploring their trade options with McCollum,” Stein wrote. “More salary would have to be added by Washington to make the salary cap math work in a trade for Young — and it’s believed that the Hawks would also have to send the Wizards draft capital to convince them to absorb Young’s contract — but the prospect of Atlanta trading its most popular player is only growing as the Feb. 5 trade deadline nears.”

While the Wizards have emerged as a potential match early in the process, the presumption is that more teams will make their desires for Young’s services known in the coming weeks. Assuming that a major part of Young’s request is the lack of success the Hawks have accrued recently, it’s hard to imagine that he’s too enamored with the idea of going to a franchise in Washington that’s tracking for another sub-25 win season.

This scenario is just another example of how fast fortunes can change in the NBA, even for an all-star talent such as young. Can a contending team make the math work to pull off a trade?