NBA Mock Trade: Hawks Swap Trae Young For Stat-Stuffing All-Star
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I’m not an Atlanta Hawks fan, nor do I play one on TV, but I do have a take:
Trae Young is a ball hog.
I didn’t say it was an original take, but there it is.
Bear in mind, this isn’t to say the mercurial point guard isn’t a beast. Young is an elite scorer whose 25.3 point career averages ranks him third amongst point guards in NBA history, as per Stat Muse, ahead of Steph Curry and Magic Johnson, and a mere 0.4 points behind Oscar Robertson.
Dude can also dish: Also as per Stat Muse, his 9.83 assists per game is third in league history, ahead of Isaih Thomas, Jason Kidd, and Steve Nash.
But you can’t put up those kind of numbers unless you have the ball in your hands, like, a lot.
And Trae Young has the ball in his hands, like, a lot.
Also as per Stat Muse, Ice Trae’s 31.8% usage percentage is higher than any NBA player ever other than Luka Doncic’s 36.2. (Fun fact: Young and Doncic were swapped for one another on Draft Night of 2018. Maybe something in the green room’s water turned these gentlemen into the ultimate hero ballers.)
So why would the Atlanta Hawks ever consider trading the 26-year-old Oklahoma product?
Because he doesn’t play winning basketball.
Trae’s Hawks Don’t Fly
Atlanta’s winning percentage with Young in the starting lineup is .453, which ranks the Hawks 21st in the league over that stretch. And in the 27 postseason games in which Young played, Atlanta is 12-15, a .444 percentage that tracks with his meh regular season record.
Point being, whatever the reason—imbalanced roster, blah teammates, a coaching disconnect—the Trae Young-led Atlanta Hawks are a below-.500 team, period.
So it’s probably time for Hawks GM Onsi Salah to pick up the phone, call (801) 325-2500, ask to speak with his Utah counterpart Justin Zanik, and see if he’d bite on this:
Atlanta Hawks receive:
- Lauri Markkanen (PF/SF)
Utah Jazz receive:
- Trae Young (PG)
Why It Might Work For Atlanta
The Hawks all but turned over their roster this summer, adding Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to their starting lineup, a pair of players who, if healthy, can contribute at multiple positions. Adding Markkanen—who can happily drift between the three and the four—would give Atlanta one of the most flexible starting fives in the East:
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker: PG/SG
- Dyson Daniels: SG/SF
- Lauri Markkanen: SF/PF
- Jalen Johnson: PF
- Kristaps Porzingis: C/PF
Their bench would be thin and problematic—we’re looking at Zaccharie Risacher and a cast of thousands—but regardless, if the injury-prone Markkanen and the even-more-injury-prone Porzingis can stay out of the trainer’s room, this squad—whish is filled with double-double machines (Markkanen, Johnson, Porzingis) and defensive pains-in-the-butt (Alexander-Walker, Daniels)—suddenly becomes a leading candidate for the Team Nobody Wants To Face In The Postseason Award.
Why It Might Work For Utah
Since their last playoff appearance in 2023, the Jazz’s regular season record is 85-161, second-worst in the Association.
The team has lacked both direction and star power, and while Young might not take them to the Promised Land today—remember, his career winning percentage is .453—it’ll make them watchable for the first time since, well, since 2023.
Even with Young, the 2025-26 Jazz will, in a word, stink, but they have seven, count ‘em, seven first-round draft picks between now and 2029, giving them the opportunity to build a roster around Young’s one-of-a-kind skill-set. Like wouldn’t Dookie freshman power forward Cameron Boozer make for a sick lob partner?
Utah should give Young his extension as soon as he sets foot into the practice facility. He’s just 26, so even if the Jazz has to dish out a super-max deal—for which he’ll be eligible if he makes the 2025-26 All-Star team—it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
At least it would be more palatable than throwing Markkanen a max deal when his contract is up in 2029.
Fantasy Fallout
Young was, is, and will always be a fantasy beast, and in year one in Utah, his numbers would, believe it or not, take an uptick.
Unless rookie Walter Clayton Jr. duplicates his performance in last year’s NCAA Men’s Tournament, Young will be the team’s only legitimate scorer, and will go a long way towards helping fantasy owners win three categories in a nine-cat league (points, threes, free throw percentage).
His assists might take a hit—as of right now, it looks like the Jazz are sorely lacking in the scoring department—but even so, he’d have to be drafted at the end of the first round, hard stop.
Markkanen’s situation is less concrete. With a stacked starting five, his scoring could take a dip, but his steals and blocks might see a climb, as the newfangled Hawks, save for Porzingis, would be a scary defense-first unit. Late third-round or early fourth-round sounds about right.
Hawks fans will kvetch about this one—it’s hard to move on from an electric, charismatic player like Young—but what we’re seeing in Atlanta right now isn’t working. Taking Young’s ball hogging out of the mix might make the Hawks a player in the Eastern Conference.
More NBA News and Takes From Fantasy Sports On SI
-82121a1351894b8089c555f4b4b69420-1d609352940036e7455770363a74a2e9.png "Alan Goldsher")
Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.