Why the Atlanta Hawks Finally Pulled the Plug on Trae Young Trade

Trae Young’s relationship with the Atlanta Hawks has bottomed out, and he has officially been traded to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.

It’s a shame that both sides could not make this work, as Atlanta was starting to build a nice core around Young with Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Kristaps Porzingis, and Onyeka Okongwu.

Between Trae Young’s injuries, his need to have the ball in his hands, and his limitations on defense, the Hawks need to move on from their All-Star point guard.

It’s not overly shocking to see this occur, as the Hawks always seem to find themselves battling it out in the Play-In, but Young wanting to be traded to the Washington Wizards is wildly surprising.

Washington isn’t nearly as bad as last season, but they still aren’t anywhere near even being a Play-In team. CJ McCollum and Marvin Bagley III had been the needed veteran presences on the Wizards, but the exciting parts of Washington come from their young core of Alex Sarr, Keyonte George, and Tre Johnson.

I’m intrigued to see how Sarr and Johnson will fit in with Young.

Sarr has become a much more viable option as a rim-running center to play alongside Young in the pick-and-roll. He’s quickly become the best player from the 2024 draft class, and he might be fully unlocked with an elite passer playing beside him.

Not only that, but when you have lineups featuring Sarr, George, and Bilal Coulibaly, you might be able to hide some of Trae Young's defensive shortcomings.

Tre Johnson has shown the ability to shoot from anywhere this season, knocking down 41.2% of his three-pointers, and he can add a lot of spacing for Young as well.

This should also generate him more open three-point attempts, as the Wizards don’t really have anyone they can rely on to drive inside to kick out to Johnson for open, catch-and-shoot attempts.

The Wizards still feel so far from competing that I am glad they are making any sort of moves to change things up. CJ McCollum has quietly had a very solid season, but moving on from him to match Trae’s salary isn’t too upsetting.

For the Hawks, you had to move on from Young, given his opt-out clause at the end of the season. If he were to opt out, that would free up a ton of cap space, but you lose an All-Star caliber player for nothing.

At least now you have McCollum as a solid veteran presence and a nice floor spacer in Kispert.

I’m not sure either side made a league-changing move, but who doesn’t love some mid-season NBA drama?