NBA Trades: 5 superstars that teams will be lining up to trade for this summer
2) Trae Young- Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young has been one of the most talked-about and polarizing players since entering the NBA in 2018. One of the NBA media’s favorite players to hate, Young is often under heavy scrutiny and constantly making national headlines, rarely for something positive. Much of which is warranted, given his defensive woes, lack of team success under his “leadership,” and lack of accountability.
Although he’s a terrific scorer and playmaker, Young has a propensity for taking ill-advised shots. In the past, his poor decision-making and shot selection have led to him often clashing with teammates and coaches. In addition to his continued display of poor basketball IQ, it’s difficult to build a championship culture when your franchise cornerstone openly doesn’t take a serious approach to the regular season.
In the six years with Young as the face of the franchise, the Hawks have won just two playoff series and haven’t advanced past the first round since their improbable 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run. Young is a tremendously talented player and multi-time All-Star, but maybe it’s time to accept that he can’t be the number-one option on a championship-caliber team.
Despite being a six-year veteran, he’s only 25 and has plenty of time to continue improving and developing his game. Still, Young is getting paid like a number option, set to earn at least $43 million for the next three seasons, and it’s evident that he is better suited to be Robin than Batman. Whether the Hawks decide to trade him or trade for a superstar to be the new 1A, something has to change, and the most logical move would be to end the Young era before it's too late.
Young has already been linked to the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Atlanta Hawks part ways with their franchise point guard after another disappointing season. In January, ESPN's Dave McMenamin went as far as to say that the Lakers have already started internal discussions of possibly packaging picks and players to pry Young away this offseason.