Hawks Needed to Leave Trae Young Behind in Order to Take the Next Step

Down in Atlanta resides the NBA’s hottest team.

After taking down the Bucks, 122-99, the Hawks have won nine consecutive games. First-time All-Star Jalen Johnson recorded a 23-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double; it was his 12th triple-double of the year. CJ McCollum led all scorers with a cool 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including a scalding 7-for-10 from three. Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipped in 20 of his own points and Corey Kispert led Atlanta’s bench with 13 points in 15 minutes.

All the names above did their part on the other end, too. They forced 20 Milwaukee turnovers and held the Bucks to under 50% shooting from the field—without Giannis Antetokounmpo, in fairness. But nevertheless a solid performance across the board.

The Hawks’ nine straight victories marks the longest active win streak in the league. It’s also the franchise’s longest winning streak in over 10 years; the last time Atlanta ripped off this many W’s in a row was the year the team won 60 games in 2014–15. More importantly the Hawks have kept pace with the other teams in the bottom half of the the Eastern Conference playoff picture. With the Heat and Magic catching fire in their own right, Atlanta’s recent push has been good enough to lay claim to the eighth seed and inspire sincere hope of climbing out of the play-in tournament entirely; only two games separate the Hawks from Orlando in the fifth seed.

One can fairly quibble over the quality of competition they’ve faced; four of those wins came against the Nets and Wizards, while Saturday’s win didn’t feature Antetokokunmpo on the other side. But the Hawks will not apologize for it. This stretch has been a joyful dose of winning basketball the likes of which haven’t been seen in Atlanta in a decade and establishes a foundation to build even more momentum as the playoffs approach.

It also hammers home what the Hawks’ front office knew back in January—the franchise had to move on from Trae Young to take this next step. Young had to go before the Hawks could move forward.

Why the Trae Young era had to end in Atlanta

Young’s trade marked the end of an era for the Hawks—and it was a pretty good era. The point guard was the most singularly exciting player to play for the team since Joe Johnson’s heyday and their unexpected Eastern Conference finals run in 2021 is one of the Hawks’ peak moments this century. He clearly enjoyed playing for the organization and the fans loved him back.

But he’d run his course. The writing was on the wall last year and Atlanta pulled the trigger in early January ahead of the deadline this year, shipping Young to the Wizards in exchange for McCollum and Kispert. The paltry return for a player capable of averaging a double-double in points and assists reflected the shifting landscape of the NBA, where Young’s defensive shortcomings at his height are a problem no contending team can overcome. It also reflected the Hawks’ overwhelming desire to get off his contract. Young is making $46 million and has a player option for $48 million next year.

But overall it was just his time. Even though Young appeared in only 10 games for Atlanta this season before getting traded, the Hawks had been his team since he was drafted in 2019 and that couldn’t change until he was gone. Johnson had made his strong case to be the next star of the franchise, coming onto the scene last year as just the type of do-everything offensive wing that all the best NBA teams have nowadays. The identity of the team, and indeed the organization, couldn’t morph around him until Young had left the building.

It was the right call.

Numbers show Hawks made the right decision by trading Young

In pro sports there’s only one number that matters—wins. And for the Hawks, any lingering doubts about trading away Young can be dismissed by looking at the team’s record.

Prior to Young’s departure on January 9, Atlanta was 19–21 on the year with a 2–8 record in the 10 games Young suited up for. Since the trade, the Hawks are 16–10. There were some stumbles in the beginning of the new era; McCollum in particular put up some rough shooting numbers after getting thrown into the starting lineup from the get-go in Atlanta. But the All-Star break gave everyone a chance to recalibrate and since returning the Hawks have been one of the NBA’s best teams, regardless of opponent.

In the 10 games since the break, Atlanta has the top defensive rating in the NBA and the eighth-best offensive rating. The roster’s starting lineup of McCollum, Johnson, Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu boasts a whopping net rating of 26.8. They are playing defense at a level previously impossible with Young to work around, but the general attitude on that side of the floor seems much more committed as well.

To be clear, the Hawks didn’t ditch a deadweight player by trading Young. He still has plenty of value in this league even if his enormous price point doesn’t reflect that accurately. But changes of scenery are sometimes beneficial for all invovled. In this case, Atlanta needed Young gone to move on to the next iteration of the franchise, one built around multiple two-way players and the comprehensive talents of Johnson. The fact that McCollum and Kispert (as well as buy-low trade acquisition Jonathan Kuminga, who has definitely shown something in four games for the Hawks) are fitting in seamlessly is just a bonus.

It is a new dawn in Atlanta and we’re just now seeing the first rays of light. The Hawks will be fun to watch down the stretch of the year.

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