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A 3-Team Trae Young Trade Idea Where Everybody Wins
Cricket chirps have finally been replaced by All-Star-related rumblings on the NBA trade market.
Trae Young, a four-time selection to the mid-season classic, and his representatives are reportedly working with the Atlanta Hawks to find his ticket out of town, per ESPN's Shams Charania. Despite the accolades, though, they're likely to find a murky market for his services due to everything from his defensive deficiencies and colossal contract to a general lack of demand at the point guard position.
That said, a muted trade market isn't the same as a silent one. While the Hawks aren't about to hold basketball's next big bidding war, they should find at least a few potential suitors. However, if they want to bring back something of value in return, they might have to incentivize someone to take him off their hands.
This hypothetical three-team trade could help make that happen with potential prizes incoming for all parties involved.
Full Trade Scenario
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Brooklyn Nets receive: Trae Young, 2028 first-round pick (top-five protected, via ATL, UTA or CLE)
Atlanta Hawks receive: Tobias Harris, Ron Holland II, Jaden Ivey
Detroit Pistons receive: Michael Porter Jr., Cam Thomas, 2029 second-round pick (via CLE, from ATL)
Why the Brooklyn Nets Do It
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The Nets have kicked around the idea of chasing star power before, and maybe they couldn't resist the dented-can discount they'd be getting on Young. He clearly has his warts defensively, but he still perennially ranks among the league's most productive players on the offensive end.
It's not often that a 27-year-old with his accolades hits the open market, let alone reaches it with bargain potential (that's not injury-related). That has to tempt any team with a star-less roster, especially one still in the identity-forming stage of an organizational overhaul.
It's possible to build a winner around Young—the Hawks three playoff trips and one Eastern Conference Finals berth to show for his tenure—it just takes a full commitment to tailor a roster to his strengths and weaknesses. Considering Brooklyn is basically working with a blank slate, it might be up to the challenge.
While the Nets just loaded up on potential playmakers at this past summer's draft, they didn't exactly walk away with a surefire franchise floor general. Even rookie-year Young was way more productive than any of the Nets' newbies (19.1 points and 8.1 assists; Egor Dёmin, the most promising of the lot, is at 9.9 and 3.4, respectively).
And for any member of Nets Nation worried about this, no, adding Young shouldn't spoil whatever tanking efforts this team is undertaking. Atlanta, which offers far more support than Brooklyn would provide, has gone just 2-8 with Young on the floor this season.
Adding him would instead allow the Nets to see if he's worth building around—while also providing a moderately valuable future first-round pick to aid in the building process. That'd be a good way to cash in on the (deceptive?) breakout from Michael Porter Jr. and avoid Cam Thomas' next confusing trip to the free-agent market.
Why the Atlanta Hawks Do It
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The Hawks have two ways to approach this. One, they could scour the rebuilding ranks and see if anyone (cough, the Washington Wizards) is desperate enough for an offense-only star to send out draft capital for him. Two, they could pair Young's sizable salary with a bit of draft capital to strengthen the roster and perhaps bring in a few building blocks.
This deal represents Door No. 2. Harris, Holland and Ivey are all rotation-regulars for the East's No. 1 seed and could be plug-and-play additions for an Atlanta team that has shown some promise without Young this season (15-13 when he doesn't play).
With Jalen Johnson now handling centerpiece duties, the Hawks should be forming their new identity around length, athleticism and defensive disruption along the perimeter. Holland, the fifth overall pick in 2024, is cut from that exact cloth. Having him on the same roster as Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Zaccharie Risacher might move Atlanta that much closer to the immovable-object mold.
As for the other newcomers, Ivey could help replace some of Young's shot-creation, while Harris would help pick up some of the scoring and shot-making slack. They could contribute to a playoff push right away and still position this club for financial relief, since both are slated for free agency this summer. If the Hawks were open to a longer-term relationship with Ivey, they'd have some leverage since he'll be a restricted free agent.
This isn't some enormous, internet-breaking kind of haul, obviously, but there might be enough immediate and long-term value for Atlanta to bite.
Why the Detroit Pistons Do It
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The Pistons are approaching the deadline in a quietly tricky spot. On the one hand, they've managed to organically grow a contender, so they're a bit cautious about upsetting their ecosystem. For instance, they've reportedly (and understandably) had hesitations about giving up prized prospect Ausar Thompson for star forward Lauri Markkanen.
On the other, the need for scoring support around MVP candidate Cade Cunningham couldn't be more obvious. Detroit has no one else averaging 18 points per outing, and interior finisher Jalen Duren is the only other player clearing even 14 a night. This could be a fatal flaw for a team with Finals aspirations, since it'll be all too easy for opponents to focus all their energy on containing Cunningham.
To sum it up, the Pistons might be sneakily desperate for an offensive upgrade, but they don't want to pay anything close to a desperation price. A deal like this might split the difference.
The cost is significant—Holland, in particular, would be painful to part with—but it's not overwhelming. The return, meanwhile, could be substantial.
Look, Porter's numbers are surely inflated by his lack of scoring help in Brooklyn, but it still isn't easy to shrug off 25.9 points per night with this level of efficiency (49.5/40.8/82.5). And his lack of playmaking wouldn't be a problem, since the ideal Cunningham co-star would be finishing most plays—not creating them. Beyond Porter's scoring punch, his quantity-plus-quality shooting would help quiet another of this club's most pressing concerns.
And in case all of Porter's offense wasn't enough, Detroit would be getting another walking bucket in Thomas. He probably wouldn't see enough floor time to keep averaging 20-plus points (a number he's on course to clear for the third consecutive season), but he'd pack more scoring punch than Ivey and Caris LeVert have provided in their instant-offense roles.
In short, the Pistons would get a massive upgrade from Harris to Porter and a sizable boost from Ivey to Thomas. Losing Holland would be the calculated cost of doing business, but the Pistons wouldn't otherwise give up any marquee assets while potentially getting back missing pieces of their championship puzzle.
