Trade Packages for Atlanta Hawks Star Guard Trae Young
The 2023 postseason is barely upon us, and it already feels like the middle of fake trade season.
Damian Lillard doesn't want to be a part of a rebuild, Bradley Beal is starting to feel impatient, Luka Dončić is already refuting reports that he might ask out, and Trae Young might be available as early as this summer.
"With the offseason approaching, league sources say the [Atlanta] Hawks' front office has the green light from ownership to do whatever it wants to with the roster, which includes considering trade opportunities involving All-Star point guard Trae Young," Kevin O'Connor wrote for The Ringer on Monday.
He later added that "any deal would need to net another All-Star player coming back and/or a group of valuable players and picks."
Given Young's defensive limitations and the Hawks' proximity to mediocrity for two years, we may not be looking at a Donovan Mitchell-like trade package here, but Atlanta won't give him away. And it sounds like the ideal return would have the team at least remaining competitive.
In other words, this isn't a "blow it up and rebuild" scenario for Atlanta, nor should it be a "move heaven and earth" scenario for most potential suitors.
That alone narrows the field down a decent bit, but there's still a handful of teams for which Young would make sense as the point guard of the future.
For all the talk of his poor defense and potential shortcomings as a leader, he's still just 24. And after five NBA seasons, he already has eye-popping career averages of 25.5 points, 9.3 assists and 2.5 threes.
Whatever team he might end up on for 2023-24 (including the incumbent Hawks) would have a one-man offensive engine the likes of which we haven't seen many times in league history.
Miami Heat
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Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick for Trae Young
or
Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and a 2027 first-round pick for Trae Young
Detailing multiple packages for one team isn't a staple for these fake trade articles, but the Miami Heat (who always seem to come up when a star hits or is rumored to hit the trade market) have multiple avenues they could pursue.
If the Hawks reached a point where they were more interested in the potential long-term benefits of moving Young, an expiring contract like Kyle Lowry's and multiple first-round picks might be enticing. They might even be able to talk Miami into parting with some additional draft compensation (like multiple second-rounders) for the trouble of paying the rest of Duncan Robinson's contract (which runs through 2025-26).
If you replace some of the draft consideration with Tyler Herro (the second package outlined above), the deal might make even more sense.
Herro is a year younger than Young, is coming off back-to-back seasons with a 20-plus scoring average and has been a more reliable three-point shooter over the course of his career. He'd easily slot in as the starting 2 next to Dejounte Murray.
Miami, meanwhile, would have a division-of-labor question to work out with Young, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, but the talent level of that trio would rival just about any other in the league.
Chicago Bulls
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Zach LaVine and a 2027 first-round pick for Trae Young
This feels like a sort of "prove it" trade for both the Chicago Bulls and Hawks.
Zach LaVine and Young are making the same amount next season, so we don't have to worry at all about the cap mechanics. But Chicago is getting the younger (by four years) and more productive player, hence its inclusion of a first-round pick.
So, why would Atlanta do it? The reason is similar to the one with Herro. LaVine might simply be a better fit next to Murray than Young is. And while he's no lockdown defender, he's four inches taller than Young and a superior athlete. With Murray's 6'4" frame and 6'10" wingspan, the Hawks would suddenly have a backcourt with plus size.
And a more egalitarian offense engineered by both Murray and LaVine could give bigs John Collins and Clint Capela more opportunities to score.
For the Bulls, the LaVine-DeMar DeRozan-Nikola Vučević core clearly isn't going to contend for a title any time soon (a bottom-10 offense has a lot to do with that). And Chicago's current point guard, Lonzo Ball, might be the biggest health mystery in the league right now.
Young would instantly supercharge the team's attack. And if Lonzo somehow got back to 100 percent during Young's stay, he's big and versatile enough to be more of a secondary playmaker at the 2.
Dallas Mavericks
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Kyrie Irving and the prospect selected with a 2023 first-round pick for Trae Young (sign-and-trade in free agency)
Alright, let's get weird.
If the Hawks fail to advance past the play-in tournament, they'll join the Dallas Mavericks as one of the league's angstier teams. And few things motivate a good trade quite like angst.
Before really diving into that trade package, though, a couple things would need to happen for this to have the remotest possibility of occuring.
First, Kyrie Irving would probably need to signal a desire to play elsewhere, and some of the more glamorous markets (like that of the Los Angeles Lakers) would have to signal that they're not interested. Second, the top-10 pick the Mavericks just blatantly tanked to preserve (if it winds up outside the top 10, it goes to the New York Knicks) would have to indeed stay in Dallas.
If those two boxes were checked, a sign-and-trade sending Kyrie to Atlanta would give the Hawks a superstar guard with far more experience playing off the ball. As was said with Herro and LaVine, he'd be a more natural fit with Murray. And new Hawks coach Quin Snyder has plenty of experience getting the most out of a combo guard (Donovan Mitchell made three All-Star teams under his tutelage).
For the Mavericks, this would represent an even bigger gamble than the Irving trade. And considering the fact that they already gave up a first to get him, this deal would ultimately feel like Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and two firsts for Young.
That's an awful lot to give up for a combo that could be doomed to fail (thanks to the ball-dominance of both Young and Dončić), but it would also give the Mavericks two of the best playmakers of all time in their early 20s.
At the least, the offense would be electrifying.
Los Angeles Clippers
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Eric Gordon, Terance Mann, Bones Hyland, a 2028 first-round pick swap and a 2029 first-round pick for Trae Young
or
Paul George for Trae Young
Like the Heat, the Los Angeles Clippers often come up as a possibility when the rumors start swirling about a star. The big market, plenty of movable contracts and the presence of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the roster make that the case.
And one last win-now move might be just what the team needs to finally get over the hump (assuming that doesn't happen in the next couple of months).
Kawhi and PG are solid playmakers for wings, but it's often felt like L.A. could benefit from a real table-setting 1. They've looked for that from Reggie Jackson, John Wall and now Russell Westbrook, but none of them create for others quite like Young does (at least not in the states in which they were Clippers).
With the amount of attention Young would command from opposing defenses, Leonard and George would get easier looks at the basket than they've ever had as Clippers. And though they're not quite the defenders they were four or five years ago, they're still better equipped than most wing combos to cover for Young's defensive issues.
For the Hawks, this deal is more forward-looking than some of the others here.
Bones Hyland is only 22 years old, and the draft consideration obviously helps down the road. Terance Mann would make the defense better. And Eric Gordon is mostly in the deal as an expiring contract to help the salaries match.
Of course, if Atlanta was insistent on taking a step forward with a Young trade, it might insist on a straight-up swap of Young and George.
The wing is eight years older, but he'd immediately improve the Hawks defense and open up some shots for Murray, Collins and the rest of the team.
For L.A., a one-two punch of Young and Leonard is pretty enticing. And even without George, the Clippers might be able to surround Young with enough defense to survive on that end.
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