Trae Young Ranked 6th on B/R NBA Trade Block Big Board

Will the Atlanta Hawks trade their star point guard Trae Young this offseason?

Apr 10, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) points to a teammate against the Charlotte Hornets during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Hawks have a lot of big decisions in front of them this offseason. They won the NBA Draft Lottery and must decide what to do with the No. 1 pick, they are more than likely going to break up the backcourt duo of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, and other players such as Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter, and others could be on the trading block. The only player who seems certain to return for Atlanta is forward Jalen Johnson, who had a huge breakout season a year ago and is poised to be one of the faces of the franchise going forward. The next couple of months are going to be pivotal for the future of the franchise and the Hawks front office has to make the right moves.

Young's name has been circulating in trade rumors for the past couple of months and while I still have doubts over whether that will acutally happen, it does feel that there is more possibility to than there has ever been.

Will Young be the top player on the trade block if he is made available? Bleacher Report analyst Zach Buckley does not think so, ranking Young 6th on his NBA Trade Block Big Board for the offseason:

"Trae Young has the richest resume of any player to crack these rankings. He's a three-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA honoree who routinely slots in among the league leaders in both points and assists. Even better, he averaged 28.8 points and 9.5 assists during Atlanta's postseason trek to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals.

So, why doesn't he land any higher than the No. 6 spot? For a few reasons, actually.

Any team that acquires him has to put him at the epicenter of their offense. The Hawks tried the dual-playmaker thing with him and Dejounte Murray—whom they'd reportedly rather keep (and others would reportedly rather get)—and it never gained an inch of traction. Their two seasons together yielded one playoff trip and one play-in exit. This season, Atlanta lost their shared floor time by a whopping 6.5 points per 100 possessions.

Young's ball-dominance makes him a tricky fit with other high-volume stars, and his dreadful defense almost ensures his team will land near the bottom of the efficiency ranks. The highest the Hawks have finished in defensive efficiency during his six-year tenure was 18th in 2020-21; that was their only top-20 appearance and one of only two finishes outside of the bottom four.

Tack on the massive amount of money he's still owed (three years, $138 million with an early termination option on the final season), and Young isn't as valuable as his gaudy offensive stats and name recognition might otherwise suggest."

The players that were ranked ahead of Young include Jonathan Kuminga, MIkal Bridges, Brandon Ingram, Jalen Green, and Darius Garland.

I think that Young is a much better player than either Green or Garland. I am still uncertain over how much Young would actually bring back in a trade, but in terms of ability, I think he is better than every player ranked above him on the board.

Atlanta was shopping Dejounte Murray Murray up until the trade deadline this season and one of the teams that was interested in Murray was the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are on the hunt for a star to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but it might not be Murray that they are after. There have been rumors about them being in on Young and wanting to trade for him this summer. Since Young left Klutch Sports and made the move to CAA, some of that talk has lessened.

On ESPN's Get Up after the Lakers went down in the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets, ESPN's Brian Windhorst brought up Young as a trade target for the Lakers this offseason.

"There are opportunities for them, not necessarily in free agency, but via trade. They will have up to three first round picks that they can trade, starting on draft night, including this years first round pick if they want to and they have some pieces on their roster that they can use in trade. Now, what player would that be? Well, we will have to see what happens with star players as the season ends across the league. I think one name that you will hear as we get into this is Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks may look to break up their backcourt of Young and Dejounte Murray. The Lakers were interested in trading for Dejounte Murray during this season. Trae is the type of player that multiple teams will have interest in if the Hawks decide to make a move. I am not sure that he solves a lot of what the Lakers ills were, perimeter defense was an issue for the Lakers this season and in this series, that is something that Trae is not going to help with, but he is definitely a guy that will super charge your offense and he would look potentially amazing next to LeBron and AD, but there are other options and things that will develop over the next two months

This summer is shaping up to be a potentially wild one in the NBA and the Hawks might be at the center of it no matter who they decide to trade.