Trae Young Trade Rumors: Spurs, Hawks Discussed Deal Before 2024 NBA Deadline

The San Antonio Spurs reportedly attempted to acquire Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young ahead of last week's trade deadline.

Howard Beck of The Ringer reported Atlanta was active ahead of the deadline and explored the possibility of moving on from its lone All-Star. It's unclear how close the two sides got in talks, but the Hawks are reportedly more open than ever to trading Young.

"He's available," an Eastern Conference exec told Beck. "I think they would love to trade Trae."

Young is in the second season of a five-year, $215.2 million contract. While he remains one of the NBA's premier offensive forces, Young's defensive woes have made him difficult to build around. Atlanta is 24-30 heading into Wednesday's game against the Charlotte Hornets, barely holding on to the final spot in the Play-In Tournament.

The Hawks also explored trading Young's backcourt partner, Dejounte Murray, ahead of the deadline but ultimately decided to stand pat.

It's likely the front office will continue to explore its options to build a roster that can make consistent deep playoff runs. The Hawks were seemingly fooled by a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, doubling down on their core at the time and finding diminishing returns. Atlanta has been eliminated in the first round of the last two playoffs.

The Spurs being interested in Young is noteworthy given they're in the midst of a full-scale rebuild around Victor Wembanyama. They've struggled to get into their offensive sets with Jeremy Sochan playing out of position at point guard, so Young would have been an instant-impact acquisition.

San Antonio's willingness to engage in win-now signals Gregg Popovich and Co. believe they're a lot closer to winning with Wembanyama than their current record indicates.