All-Star point guard Trae Young has been widely mentioned in trade rumors over the past year, but he remains a member of the Atlanta Hawks more than a month after the new league year began.
Teams interested in Trae Young still have plenty of time to present a can’t-miss offer to Hawks GM Landry Fields. The 25-year-old makes sense for any team seeking to upgrade its backcourt, but only so many clubs have the cap space and necessary assets to make a play for him.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley proposed a blockbuster trade idea that would see the Hawks dealing Young to the Eastern Conference rival Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Ben Simmons, Dariq Whitehead and first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029. In Buckley’s proposal, the 2027 first-rounder would be top-eight protected:
“Young has his limitations—namely, anything connected to defense—but the Nets could be desperate enough for offense and star power to look past them.…
The Hawks, meanwhile, could consider taking a blowtorch to their roster and resetting around Jalen Johnson, the No. 1 pick and whichever 2025 draft prospect they could tank their way to adding (if they can reacquire their pick from the San Antonio Spurs).
Simmons is an unreliable as they come, and Whitehead feels like a long-shot mystery box, but getting three first-round picks for Young would be big given his one-way play style and colossal contract.“
The Nets tried building a superteam around superstars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and later James Harden. The all-in approach from 2019 to 2022 only resulted in a single playoff series win, forcing the front office to eventually trade all three stars in separate deals.
Trae Young assists per game each season:
2019: 8.1 APG (7th)
2020: 9.3 APG (2nd)
2021: 9.4 APG (3rd)
2022: 9.7 APG (3rd)
2023: 10.2 APG (3rd)
2024: 10.8 APG (2nd)How many APG for Trae next season? pic.twitter.com/cljgsgjJwC
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) July 28, 2024
So the Nets are loaded with draft picks over the long haul and can make a blockbuster trade for another star to help Cam Thomas. A player like Trae Young would go a long way in helping Brooklyn return to playoff contention in an Eastern Conference full of mediocre and rebuilding teams.
Nets Should Trade For Trae Young If Hawks Make Him Available
The No. 5 pick of the 2018 NBA Draft has been a consistently productive score since entering the league six years ago. Young has averaged 25.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game over his first six NBA seasons.
Brooklyn has the assets to make another big move to accelerate their rebuild, and a Young-Thomas tandem would be must-watch TV. So if the Hawks are open to trading Young, the Nets have to at least make a phone call.
