Hawks Right Not to Trade Trae Young Amid Playoff Hopes, NBA Rumors

The Atlanta Hawks are one of the more intriguing teams in the NBA.

The team agreed to an extension with Dyson Daniels, runner-up to league's Defensive Player of the Year award and winner of Most Improved Player, through 2030 and has Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu under deals for the next three seasons.

Despite those promising young players under contract, there was much speculation surrounding Trae Young's status with the organization amid trade discussions.

Brett Siegel of Clutch Points reported, "At no point has Atlanta considered trading Young, as the internal hope is that common ground will be found on a new deal next offseason, sources said."

He also noted, "The Hawks are willing to wait and see how everything develops this year with a roster they believe can finish as a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference."

There is no reason Atlanta cannot be and it starts with Young. The four-time NBA All-Star has averaged 25.3 points per game in his career, with 3.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists. He is a 43.2-percent shooter from the paint and 35.2-percent from beyond the arc.

While there has understandably been criticism about him taking over games and not allowing his teammates to have the impact that they should, there is no universe in which the Atlanta Hawks are better without him.

Even with the intriguing young talent surrounding the superstar.

Siegel had previously posted on X that, "The only way they trade Young is if there was a Rudy Gobert-like package out there for them (there's not)."

He is too good, and too important to the team's chances of making that deep push into the playoffs this season for the organization to trade him away, knowing full well that they will not get adequate value in return for him.

He is an offensive facilitator and with Johnson and Okongwu around him, and Daniels fueling the defense, the Hawks can make a splash in the postseason.

Add in Kristaps Porzingis, who "has left the door open for possibly remaining in Atlanta past the 2025-26 season," per Siegel, and Atlanta could surprise some as the team most likely to bump Eastern Conference favorites like Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and more, out of the top-four seeds, with their best team in years.