Trae Young Rumors: 'Growing Belief' Hawks Prefer to Trade Star Over Dejounte Murray

People within the NBA are increasingly concluding the Atlanta Hawks will look to move one of their star guards, Trae Young or Dejounte Murray, this offseason, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

"You could also say that there is a growing belief in many corners of the league that Atlanta's preference would actually be shopping Young," Stein added.

Something has to give in Atlanta.

The team won five fewer games in Quin Snyder's first full season as head coach, and the year ended with a 15-point loss to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The status quo simply isn't working and there's no reason to think the Young/Murray tandem just needs more time to click.

The idea of pairing them up was clear in theory. Murray's defense would help offset Young's deficiencies on that end of the floor. In addition, his presence would ease the scoring and playmaking burden on Young while ensuring Atlanta could basically have at least one of the two on the floor running the offense at all times.

Instead, the partnership has been an ill fit, with Murray and Young continuing to put up good individual production but failing to translate that into wins.

The Hawks are stuck between a rock and a hard place even more because they've leveraged so much future draft capital to put this roster together. Leaning all the way into a rebuild is a nonstarter when the San Antonio Spurs own their first-rounders outright or swap rights from 2025-27.

Dealing one of Young/Murray and building around the other is the only plausible path forward, and Young might be the more attractive trade asset of the two.

The three-time All-Star averaged 25.7 points and 10.8 assists during the regular season, and his 37.3 percent clip on three-pointers was a little above his career mark. The $89 million he makes over the next two years — he has an early termination option for his $49 million salary in 2026-27 — may also be easier to move than Murray's deal.

Murray is just embarking on his four-year, $114.1 million extension.

From Atlanta's perspective, moving Young is also a case of embracing the unknown. The Hawks have had limited success with the 25-year-old as the centerpiece, to the degree it's worth asking whether he's suited for that kind of role.

Murray is less valuable in a vacuum but could be a better player from a team-building context.