{"id":63706,"date":"2024-02-09T11:51:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=63706"},"modified":"2024-02-09T11:51:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:51:27","slug":"nba-rumors-hawks-trae-young-available-trade-talks-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/09\/nba-rumors-hawks-trae-young-available-trade-talks-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: Trae Young Available in Trade Talks This Offseason?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The trade deadline may have passed, but the rumor mill is still churning. For the Atlanta Hawks, this has led to speculation about the futures of Dejounte Murray<\/a> and Clint Capela<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the trade block since last summer, Yahoo Sports insider Jake Fischer reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to resume their talks<\/a> about Murray this offseason. The New Orleans Pelicans, who held trade conversations<\/a> with the Hawks this week, could also revisit those talks. Capela is another player the Pelicans are rumored to have an interest in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the most notable section of Fischer\u2019s report was about Trae Young<\/a>. Per Fischer, multiple league executives believe Young could become available for trade this offseason.<\/p>\n

NBA Rumors: Trae Young Available in Trade Talks This Offseason?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe [Los Angeles] Lakers certainly won\u2019t limit their thinking to [Dejounte] Murray,\u201d Yahoo Sports\u2019 Jake Fischer reports. \u201cThere are several front offices that listened to Atlanta\u2019s pre-deadline chatter and came away from conversations with the [Atlanta] Hawks of the belief Trae Young could become available for trade this summer \u2014 depending on Atlanta\u2019s outcome for the remainder of this campaign.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fischer also said,<\/p>\n

\u201cFor now, one spot other than Los Angeles that\u2019s repeatedly been mentioned by NBA figures as a potential home for Young \u2014 if Atlanta were to ever consider parting with its franchise face and All-Star lead ball-handler \u2014 is San Antonio.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Rocky Situation<\/h3>\n

The Young Era in Atlanta has been a roller coaster. As the keystone of the Hawks’ rebuild following the Mike Budenholzer Era, Young has been sensational on the court.<\/p>\n

After finishing second place to Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic<\/a> in the 2019 Rookie of the Year race, Young earned his first All-Star appearance in his second season. Though the Hawks had won 49 games by this point, he and the team showed promise.<\/p>\n

Yet, the situation began to sour in his third season.<\/p>\n

Midway through the 2020-21 season, Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce was relieved of his duties. At the time, reports had surfaced that Pierce had been heard on a league call with the Competition Committee lamenting Young\u2019s shot selection and foul-drawing tactics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hawks former general manager Travis Schlenk cited his dissatisfaction with the team\u2019s progress as the source of Pierce\u2019s firing. However, the general consensus is that Young\u2019s feelings about Pierce greatly influenced the decision.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Pierce\u2019s replacement \u2014 Nate McMillan \u2014 was loyal to his predecessor. That said, McMillan was able to transform Atlanta into a serious team. Under his direction, the Hawks reached not only the playoffs but also the Eastern Conference Finals.<\/p>\n

The following season, the Hawks reached the playoffs again but fell in the first round.<\/p>\n

Then, three-quarters of the way through the 2022-23 season, McMillan got the axe as reports surfaced about his rumored friction with Young.<\/p>\n

After his firing, former Hawks cornerstone John Collins<\/a> revealed that McMillan\u2019s style was more suited towards a veteran squad, as he continuously preached accountability<\/a>. This was at a time when Murray was being painted as the locker room leader while the Hawks questioned Young\u2019s leadership approach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just before the 2023 offseason, Atlanta was monitoring Young\u2019s behavior and commitment to leadership.<\/p>\n

More of the Same<\/h3>\n

Unfortunately for the Hawks, things have not gotten better for the organization. After hiring highly touted head coach Quin Snyder, the Hawks are just 32-40 in his tenure. Compare that to his predecessor Nate McMillan\u2019s 98-80 record in Atlanta, and Snyder is certainly underachieving.<\/p>\n

For his part, Young has bought into improving his game’s weakest area: the defensive end. Teams still single him out to take advantage of his physical limitations, but he\u2019s playing with much more tenacity. Furthermore, unlike his previous head coaches, there seems to be no friction between him and Snyder.<\/p>\n

Yet, the imbalance speaks to a need for a major change with a team that ranks third in points per game (121.5) but 30th in opponents’ points (124.0). Perhaps even trading Young.<\/p>\n

While the Hawks would lose one of the league\u2019s best offensive engines, they may acquire a two-way playmaker in return. To that point, Atlanta\u2019s offense may improve by becoming less heliocentric as multiple players maximize their potential.<\/p>\n

Frankly, though, neither Austin Reaves<\/a> nor Devin Vassell<\/a> is an ideal centerpiece in a trade for Young. A three-time All-Star entering his prime, a trade package for Young would have to be centered around a player like Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown<\/a>, Los Angeles Clippers swingman Paul George<\/a> or New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

None of those stars are mentioned as trade candidates.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it\u2019s notable that George can reach free agency and that James Harden<\/a> will be a free agent this summer. Similarly, Ingram will reach free agency next offseason. On the other coast, Brown is under contract for the foreseeable future. Yet, Jrue Holiday<\/a> mentioned retirement when his contract expires next offseason. Backcourt mate Derrick White’s<\/a>\u00a0current contract will end next offseason as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The trade deadline may have passed, but the rumor mill is still churning. For the Atlanta Hawks, this has led to speculation about the futures of Dejounte Murray and Clint Capela. On the trade block since last summer, Yahoo Sports insider Jake Fischer reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to resume their talks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":63733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,62,4721],"tags":[346,1262,1349],"class_list":["post-63706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-clint-capela","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-trae-young"],"modified_by":"Kayla Fonte","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}