Trae Young Trade Landing Spots If Atlanta Hawks Deal Star During 2025 NBA Offseason
The Atlanta Hawks' underwhelming 2024-25 campaign ended on Friday night, when they lost on their home floor to the Miami Heat, 123-114.
Trae Young had a solid performance, at least in the box score, finishing with 29 points (on 9-of-22 shooting) and 11 assists.
But he gave one of the saddest efforts you'll ever see on an overtime rebound attempt that was snatched by Davion Mitchell and eventually led to a game-sealing three for Mitchell.
And that play could very well be his last in an Atlanta Hawks uniform.
Over the Hawks' four seasons since their conference finals appearance in 2021, they're 18th in the league in winning percentage and 27th in points allowed per 100 possessions.
They've missed the playoffs altogether in each of the last two seasons.
Of course, Jalen Johnson's season-ending injury had a lot to do with this season's failure. And Atlanta has generally been better with Young on the floor over the years.
But Young is also the team's best player and face of the franchise He has to own a lot of its mediocrity, especially when plays like that offensive rebound by Mitchell are such a good representation of Young's defensive effort through much of his career.
This summer, expect Atlanta to at least consider moving Young and angling toward a new era with a new face.
Orlando Magic
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The Orlando Magic have plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Chief among them are star forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
But even with those two up-and-coming scorers, the Magic had a whale of a time scoring all season, finishing 26th in the league in points per 100 possessions.
Say what you will about Young's defense and rebounding. There's almost no chance a team led by him would struggle that much on the offensive end.
With Young's unlimited range and willingness to shoot from everywhere, defenses have to chase him way outside the three-point line (even in years when his three-point percentage isn't great). And his vision and feel as a playmaker out of the pick-and-roll are nearly unmatched.
A starting lineup with him, Banchero and Wagner would be guaranteed to be far more effective offensively. And the Magic have the contracts and picks necessary to put together a solid offer without giving up either of their big-name forwards.
Brooklyn Nets
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With Nicolas Claxton and Cameron Johnson being their only players under contract for more than $20 million in 2025-26, the Brooklyn Nets figure to have loads of cap space this summer.
If they land a solid finisher in the first round of the 2025 draft, they could piece together some smaller contracts and future picks, offer them for Young and absorb his $46 million salary into cap space.
Would Nets fans be universally on board with accelerating the rebuild like that? Probably not, but Young would absolutely supercharge this offense and give the team more of an idea of how to build going forward.
Generally speaking, the Hawks had the right idea in trying to surround him with three-and-D forwards and wings. And Brooklyn would already have a step headed in that direction with Johnson.
Phoenix Suns
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This one's a little off the wall, but the Phoenix Suns just finished 10 games under .500, while having, by far, the most expensive roster in the NBA.
Drastic changes could be on the way, including potential trades of Kevin Durant or Devin Booker.
Of course, if Atlanta went after either, it'd be the side giving up picks and/or young players (even with Young also headed to Phoenix), but maybe that's fine, especially if it's for Booker.
There's an interesting core of forwards and wings in place for the Hawks with Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels and Johnson.
Continued development from those three and an even slightly more engaged defender in Young's place could get Atlanta headed in the right direction quickly.
San Antonio Spurs
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The idea of Trae joining Victor Wembanyama on the San Antonio Spurs had a lot more juice last summer, long before De'Aaron Fox was traded there.
But San Antonio could still get a little crazy and add Young's immense playmaking talent to a lineup that would include Fox and Stephon Castle.
The wingspans of Fox (6'6") and Castle (6'9") make them reasonable options to play at the 2 and the 3. And the wealth of playmaking and passing from that trio would make life on the offensive end a breeze for Wemby.
He'd likely have a lot more to clean up on the other end, but he's already the best backline defender in the NBA. San Antonio is uniquely positioned to get creative with him on the roster.
