The Atlanta Hawks Have Finally Traded Trae Young; How Did We Get Here?

For the past few years, the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young's relationship had seemed to have run its course, and as it officially came to an end recently, we will take a look at the rise and fall of this planned experiment that went sour after a promising rise.

Ice Trae ends his chapter in Atlanta ❄️

What a run 💯 pic.twitter.com/odVHEKclkh
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 8, 2026

Hawks Legend

On NBA Draft Night in 2018, the Atlanta Hawks made a trade for Trae Young involving Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks, which went on to be talked about for years to come and, at first, drew plenty of mixed reactions as it was seen as a gamble for both sides. In the end, while both teams saw success with both players in their NBA Finals and Conference Finals appearances, they would ultimately be traded a season apart.

Now, where things get interesting, after three years in the NBA, Young had been proving doubters wrong who had viewed him as "too small" and a "draft bust," but coming into that season, the question was what he could do to take his franchise to the next level. To start the 2020 season, the Hawks did not play well, and questions arose about Young and his future, as he had made the All-Star team the previous season but was snubbed the next due to the Hawks' struggles. The Hawks would go on to fire their two-year head coach, Lloyd Pierce, after the team started the season 14-20, and hire assistant head coach Nate McMillan, who would help the team improve to 27-11 and reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

The sad reality is that in Game three of the Eastern Conference Finals, Young would suffer a bone bruise in his foot after stepping back on a referee's foot, causing him to miss two games, and the Hawks would fall to the eventual NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks in six games, 4-2. This led to a mixed conversation among NBA fans and the media about whether the Hawks were legit contenders going into the next season, after knocking off the number one-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and the number four-seeded New York Knicks.

Jun 27, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) is attended to after injuring his foot by accidentally stepping on an official's foot against the Milwaukee Bucks in the second half during game three of the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2021 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

However, we didn't know this would be the peak of the Young era; team success wouldn't get better, but Young himself would also reach his peak in overall play and hype in the 2021-2022 NBA 75th Anniversary season, where he found himself in conversations for future NBA superstars of the next generation. In that season, Young posted career highs at the time in terms of shooting efficiency, assists, and made his only All-NBA Team that year, while releasing his own signature shoe with Adidas before taking an injury-plagued Hawks team to the NBA Play-In Tournament and NBA Playoffs. That season, it was clear from the start that Young's teammates didn't have the same edge to build from the season prior, and they got off to a slow start and never really took the leap many anticipated.

In a post-game press conference, Young had the following to say after a slow start to the 2021-2022 season and a loss to the Utah Jazz that pretty much summarized the Hawks' season that year.

"I think guys are learning that we’re no longer the hunters, and at the same time, it’s the regular season. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a lot more boring than the playoffs. So you gotta find a way to find that motivation to go out and play every night like it’s the playoffs, and play like we did last year. Remember, I was saying it all last year: we need to treat every game like it’s a playoff game. And I think we’ve kind of gotten away from that. We’re kind of just playing for flow, and everybody just wants to get it and feel good and everything like that. But at the end of the day, if you’re not winning, it doesn’t matter. So I don’t know if we need to go back to playing how we did in the playoffs, but I think that’s the big thing—we need to get back to playing like we did in the playoffs. I mean, we will. It’s early. It is what it is right now, but we’ve gotta figure it out."

Unfortunately, Young and the Hawks never really figured it out like the previous year, finishing the season as the eighth seed with a 43-39 record and would shockingly lose to the Miami Heat in the playoffs, with Young playing the worst basketball of his career. The Heat took Young away completely and made the rest of the Hawks team beat them, which worked as the Heat won the series 4-1, with Young averaging 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds. Young did, however, have a memorable game-winner in game three of that series, along with a 16-point Hawks comeback in the second half.

Following this up-and-down season, the Hawks' front office realized they needed more help surrounding Young and would go out and trade for Dejounte Murray, who, at the time, was coming off a season where he made the All-Star team and was just 25 years old. This was a move to shift some of the playmaking and scoring responsibilities away from Young, mainly so he wouldn't have to exhaust himself or be easily taken out of the game offensively.

As time went on, it was glaringly apparent that this duo would not work together and that both players would struggle, as the team would be in the Play-In Tournament again, where they beat the Miami Heat as heavy underdogs and then lost to the Boston Celtics in an entertaining six-game series. Standout moments from this series were Murray being suspended for game five for bumping an official at the end of game four and Young making a game-winning deep three-pointer in game five.

TRAE YOUNG GAME WINNER 🥶
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/zmaSDBEBR4
— Overtime (@overtime) April 26, 2023

The following season, while the Hawks had some positives to look forward to, things would only get worse, as the team would again end up in the Play-In Tournament for the third consecutive season. Young would also break his finger in the first game after the All-Star break, and the Hawks would finish the season under 500. with a 36-46 record after a previous season record of 41-41. They would miss the playoffs, and Murray would be traded to the New Orleans Pelicans after both he and Young were in trade talks throughout the season; the experiment clearly had failed. The bright side is that Atlanta ended up with the first pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but that draft class wasn't as good as in previous years, unfortunately.

By this point, the Hawks had tried everything, and the talk of that offseason was that they had overpaid for Murray after the Hawks gave up multiple first-round picks to San Antonio for him. The Hawks would then put a team around Young, similar to what he had before the Murray trade, but the writing was on the wall. There wasn't much left the Hawks could do before they had to reach a point of getting Young out of Atlanta next, but not before some names would emerge.

With the team's expectations low, Young and the Hawks would surprise people with how good they were, given that they had such a young, talented roster, yet were only projected for 36 wins that season. Two players that really stood out from that season were Jalen Johnson, whose season was cut short due to injury, and Dyson Daniels, who went on to win Most Improved Player of the Year and make All-Defensive First Team.

The Hawks would finish the 2024-2025 season with a 40-42 record and would make the In-Season Tournament Eastern Conference Finals, before dropping two games in the Play-In Tournament.

Going into the 2025 summer, the end was pretty much near as the Hawks did not offer Young a contract extension and would go on to make moves that surrounded him with talent going into his contract year. This also came after the Hawks made some moves in the front office, firing former General Manager Landry Fields and hiring his assistant, Onsi Saleh, as the new General Manager.

The Hawks organization would finally make the moves necessary for Young to succeed, trading for Kristaps Porzingis, signing both Luke Kennard and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and finessing the Pelicans out of their 2026 unprotected NBA Draft pick. But with these moves, one came with a cost: Young and Porzingis both got injured early in the season, and the team flourished without them on the court, leading to Young being traded and Porzingis, who is also on an expiring deal, being in trade talks as well.

While most fans view it through a loyalty lens, the reality is that the Hawks are trying to build around a much more complete player in Johnson, who is just 24 years old, averaging 23.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists on 52/35/79% shooting splits. However, the NBA's shift in size also made Young's fit with this Hawks team very challenging. This is a team that struggles defensively as it is, and with him on the court, it gets even worse, even though he helps them offensively.

Jul 3, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) greets fans as he leaves the court after the Hawks loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2021 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-Imagn Images | Jason Getz-Imagn Images

Going forward, both sides win: Young gets the opportunity to make max-contract or near-max-contract money while having his own team again, and the Hawks regain flexibility to build for the future. In the end, the Hawks have a record of 221-272 with Young, but that doesn't diminish the fact that he's a four-time All-Star with the team and one of the greatest Hawks players of all time who took Atlanta to only their second Eastern Conference Finals in just his third NBA season, as well as being the Hawks all time leader in assists and three-pointers made with a career average of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists.

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