NBA Trade Deadline: Insider Says Trae Young's Future With the Atlanta Hawks is "Becoming Murky"

The Atlanta Hawks made several moves at the trade deadline today, but one insider things Young's future with the team could be murky

Jackson Caudell | Feb 6, 2025

Feb 3, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles defended by Detroit Pistons guard Marcus Sasser (25) in the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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Atlanta Hawks

Today was a big day across the NBA. It was the NBA's trade deadline and there were a flurry of moves coming from all across the league, including from Atlanta. The Hawks made the surprising decision to move De'Andre Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers and then Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Hawks are welcoming in Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Terance Mann, and Bones Hyland to the rotation.

How do these moves affect the Hawks now and into the future? That part is a bit complicated, but one other question that has been asked is how does any of this (if at all) affect Hawks star guard Trae Young and his future with the franchise? When talking about the trade deadline and the De'Andre Hunter deal, NBA insider Chris Haynes had this to say about Young and the Hawks:

"I am going to pivot to Trae Young. That guy is a fierce competitor, he wants to win. I am going to say it again, he wants to win so the direction of the Hawks I would say is very unique considering they know where he stands and they know what he wants to accomplish. I will say this, before the San Antonio Spurs made the move for De'Aaron Fox, they were considering Trae Young, but with the way that the Spurs are set up right now, they are not set up to start trying to win games and contend now so there was never really a hurry to try and bring in an established point guard to move onto the next phase, but De'Aaron Fox kinda fell in their lap and he picked them as the sole team that he wanted to play with so they chose him and it was a much easier route to get De'Aaron, but Trae Young was on the San Antonio Spurs radar."

Trae Young’s future with Atlanta Hawks is becoming murky. pic.twitter.com/7PPSdBGzLz
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 6, 2025

This is going to be interesting to watch moving forward. The Hawks have a core centered around Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Zaccharie Risacher and they have flashed a lot of potential at various times this season. How will the Hawks continue to build around them going forward?

When it comes to the deadline moves today though, the Hawks were very active. They moved Bogdanovic, Hunter, and Cody Zeller while bringing in LeVert, Niang, Hyland, and Mann.

After playing his first three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Bogdanovic signed with the Hawks ahead of the 2020-2021 season and was a part of a Hawks team that was two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals. He had one of the best seasons of his career in helping the Hawks reach the conference finals vs Milwaukee, averaging 16.4 PPG on 44% shooting from three, a career-high for Bogdanovic. He signed a four-year $68M extension in March of 2023 and has two years remaining on his current deal, with a team option for the 2026-2027 season. He is owed $16M next season and if his team option is picked up, he will be owed $16M for the 2026-2027 season.

Over the course of his career in Atlanta, Bogdanovic averaged 15.1 PPG on 44% shooting from the field and 38% from three. He finished 6th in Sixth Man of the Year voting following the 2021-2022 season and finished 5th following the 2023-2024 season. He arguably should have finished higher than 5th last season and if the Hawks had won more games, he likely would have.

After four really consistent years with the Hawks, Bogdanovic's play dipped this year in terms of shooting ability, shooting a career worst 37% from the field and 30% from three. It became clear that he did not fit with the timeline of this team looking to build around Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and Zaccharie Risacher. The 32-year old Bogdanovic has not played in a game for the Hawks since a loss to the Raptors on Jan. 25th.

Jan 23, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (13) shoots against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Mann is going to be an interesting player for the Hawks. He just recently signed a three year $47M extension this past summer and will make $15.5M for the next three seasons. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2028. This season, he is averaging 6.0 PPG in 19.9 MPG and is shooting 45% from the field and 35% from three. He is a career 37.1% three-point shooter. He is an intriguing player who is still young and I want to see what kind of role he will have on the team moving forward.

Hyland has played in 20 games this season and is averaging 7.2 PPG on 39% from the field and 39% from three. He is going to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

De'Andre Hunter is currently having a career season and has been firmly in the running for 6th Man of the Year. He is averaging a career-high 19.0 PPG on 46% shooting from the field and a career-high 39% from three. He has two more years on his contract after this season and is owed $23.3M next season and $24.9M for the 2026-2027 season. He signed a four-year, $95M extension ahead of the 2022-2023 season.

Atlanta moved up in the draft to get Hunter, going from 8th to 4th, while also landing Cam Reddish with the 10th pick. The Hawks hoped that both would be the kind of wing players that they needed around Trae Young, but it never quite worked out that way. Hunter played in 63 games in his rookie season and averaged 12.3 PPG on 41% shooting and 36% from three.

Injuries have been a problem for Hunter in his career with the Hawks and that could be a reason for Atlanta moving him despite his career season. He played in 23 games during the 20-21 season (Atlanta's run to the Eastern Conference Finals), 53 games in 2021-2022, 67 in 2022-2023, and 57 games last season. He has played in 37 of 51 games this season.

LeVert is currently averaging 10.2 PPG on 45% shooting from the field and 40% from three. He has played in 38 games this season and will give the Hawks a scoring option off the bench. Niang is averaging 8.1 PPG this season on 48% shooting from the field and 40% from three. Niang will likely see plenty of time in Atlanta with Hunter being traded and Jalen Johnson out for the rest of the season.

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