Trae Young is still the top star on a Hawks team that’s expected to be a contender in the East, but a rival executive believes Atlanta officials will at least listen to trade offers for the 27-year-old guard, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Young’s future is uncertain because he holds a $49MM player option for 2026/27 and can become a free agent next summer. The Hawks could pursue an extension at any time, but there were no negotiations during the offseason and sources tell Windhorst that no progress has been made on that front.
Young’s situation is complicated by a sprained MCL that will sideline him for at least three more weeks. He led the NBA in assists last season, but he got off to a slow start this year and it’s possible that the Hawks could have a promising future without him. They have a collection of young talent centered around Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher, and they hold the Pelicans’ unprotected first-rounder in next year’s draft.
“Atlanta is good enough to keep Trae and be good and make the playoffs,” an Eastern Conference executive told Bontemps. “But with the pick and Jalen, Dyson and Zach, they’ll at least pick up the phone and listen when called (about Young).”
The Hawks are 3-1 since Young’s injury, although two of those wins came against Brooklyn and Indiana, who are a combined 2-14. Per Windhorst, the sense around the league is that Atlanta’s front office, as well as Young’s representatives, will see how the season plays out before trying to determine his value. He’s eligible for an extension worth up to a projected $230MM over four years, and the team has already committed a combined $55MM to Johnson and Daniels for next season while facing Kristaps Porzingis‘ upcoming free agency.
Bontemps and Windhorst share information on three other NBA stars:
- There’s not much trade interest in Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, who’s currently sidelined with a strained left hamstring. The authors point out that it’s already the fifth hamstring injury of Williamson’s career, and he continues to experience physical issues despite his commitment to improved conditioning. Williamson’s contract isn’t guaranteed for the next two years, but teams aren’t eager to take a chance on him considering his history. New Orleans doesn’t own its 2026 first-rounder, so the team’s best option seems to be trying to improve the talent around him. “To be honest, their move might be a win-now trade, not a Zion trade,” a rival executive said. “His trade value isn’t there and they are facing some pressure to win.”
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is another talented but oft-injured player who doesn’t seem likely to be traded soon, according to Bontemps and Windhorst. There was hope for improvement in Charlotte this season based on a young core of Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, but Miller is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury and Ball has already missed two games due to an ankle impingement. “Yes, he’s talented, but he doesn’t take basketball seriously enough,” a Western Conference scout said. “It’s hard to build a winner with him because of how he plays, and the liberties he takes for himself when he plays. Would someone take a flier on him? For sure. But Charlotte isn’t taking a flier price for him.”
- Giannis Antetokounmpo trade speculation has calmed down with the Bucks off to a 5-3 start. Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.3 PPG while shooting 67.7% from the field, and his revamped supporting cast has been better than expected. However, Windhorst advises caution, pointing to an earlier report from Shams Charania that Antetokounmpo is likely to take 20 to 25 games to assess whether the team can be a real contender.
Let’s say the 2026 unprotected 1st round pick from Pelicans ends up being the 1st pick in the draft for the Hawks, would they consider letting Trae walk and having a brand new core with Darren Peterson/Johnson/Risacher/Daniels? I have a hard time believing Hawks will offer an extension to Trae with a talent like Peterson coming along, even if they don’t get Peterson, they can still get a quality high caliber talented prospect for that nucleus to build around.
Great times for Hawks fans like Sankara lol.
Well, they are 3-1 without Trae, so far. It’ll be interesting to see what conclusions they draw after this stretch without him. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter whether they lose or win most games without him. What matters is are they going to be better off investing 30% of the cap he’s occupying into other players?
Personally, I only look forward to watching him when they play New York. I checked the schedule, their first game is in late December in ATL, and they play at MSG on Jan, 2. Other than those games, I don’t like seeing Trae play. He’s not exciting or interesting.
Sankara is definitely happy in general, but probably not too happy that Jose Alvarado decided to show up and win the last 2 games, lol.
It’s hard for me to see how you can say Trae isn’t exciting or interesting. He’s easily one of the most exciting players in the league to me. There are numerous former Hawk pgs who I have personally liked more than I like Trae but none of them are as exciting as him, not even Spud or Teague who were both very exciting pgs themselves. He’s one of the smallest guys in the league but team defenses fear him more than the vast majority of guys bc he puts so much pressure on defenses with his speed/shooting range/court vision.
Jose Alvarado played great in the last 2 Ws for NO but anyone who watched those games has to give the main credit to Derik Queen. He carried that team to those Ws with his play jn the 4th qtr. I wanna say he played all 24mins of those combined 4th qtrs & was dominant all 24mins. Im not really tripping that much on NOP winning or losing tho bc tbh I love a lot of the guys on that team. Specifically Jose is 1 of my very favorite players in the league. I like GaTech even more than I like my Hawks. Jose is 1 of the best to ever come thru Tech & I love seeing him do well. We get the better of NO’s or Mil’s picks so I mean we’re gonna get a good pick either way plus our team is already really young & fairly deep so I sorta feel like our future is gonna be bright no matter what… link to m.youtube.com
Agree about Queen, he looks like a proper player. Reminds me of Sengun: questioned due to his physicality, but plenty of genuine basketball skill, creativity and a good understanding of how to apply himself on the court.
I like the Wallace suggestion. Really like it.
Trae brings certain things, but I don’t like the whole package. When he plays, I always get that “Atlanta will get smoked in this one” feeling. With him on the team, I’ll always see you as a “they’re getting swept in the first round” team.
He wasn’t great last year, and he was even worse to start this season. Leading the league in assists doesn’t do it for me. I don’t like the way in which he achieves it. The supercharged Tyus Jones (but with way more turnovers) with an increasingly questionable jumper is not it.
Idk if I’d call these times great but Im definitely feeling good about the present state of the Hawks & feeling even better about our future. I love Trae but I’ve been ringing the alarm to trade him for a good 5yrs now & was very much against the trade that brought him here in the 1st place. I’ve watched probably over 90% of the hundreds of games he’s played as a Hawk (not to mention dozens of his games at OU) & to me he’s clearly a future HOFer, probably 1st ballot. But I personally value a bigger, tougher, more versatile pg. That’s why I’m all in on us going after Cason Wallace next summer. OKC is paying big $ to like 8 other guys, plus they have Ajay Mitchell & Niko Topic locked up for multiple seasons after this & those guys play similar role as Cason. Obv his older brother (Keaton) is already here. If/when we trade Trae or move on from him somehow we’ll have the $ & the starting pg spot necessary to outbid what OKC can match (he’ll still be a RFA). This season we have what I consider to be a major problem with defensive rebounding & that sorta puts a cap on how much we can win. Obv we’re a better rebounding team with Trae out but our front line is still sorta lacking as far as rebounding prowess. I’d love us to trade Trae & bring back some future assets & maybe pick up someone like Ben Simmons that can help with rebounding & finding open shooters. But if we keep Trae this year that’s fine as long as this is his last season here.
As far as NOP, Im obv rooting for them & Milwaukee to lose as much as possible so we get a top5 pick in this loaded draft. But at the same time I’m pretty skeptical that we’re gonna get a guy as good as Derik Queen no matter where we pick. Idk who saw the 4th quarter of the Pels/Mavs game on Wednesday but Queen looked like the best rookie in the league that night & this is in a game where Cooper Flagg had arguably the best game of his pro career. If we get the #1 pick or any top pick & come away with Asa Newell & AJ Dybantsa (or Peterson or Mikel or whoever) for Derik Queen that would definitely feel like a big W for the franchise but nobody should sleep on DQueen becoming a perennial all-star & eventually the best big man in the league. Basically I would love a top5 pick in this upcoming draft but I would also loved to have had Queen on the Hawks rn. Overall I’m hype for what we got going but KP being a subpar rebounder, Quin being a pretty mid head coach, is only being 4-4 rn, Okongwu not in the starting lineup, us not giving Vit the pt he’s earned are just a few of my gripes with the team.
Sankara, excellent analysis as always, but I have a feeling you are misinformed. Bucks pick is their own for 2026 according to tank. You guys have the Cavs pick due to the Hunter deal, and Spurs pick lol. I just wanted to clarify that with you.
Great stuff and I enjoy reading your opinions.
Preciate that bro. But from my understanding we traded the #13 pick in the last draft (Derik Queen) for the #23 pick (Asa Newell) plus either NOP’s or Mil’s 2026 1st rd pick, whichever is better.
Apparently we also have the option to swap our own 1st rd pick for Cleveland’s in 2026 as well but Im pretty sure we already have to swap our own 1st with SAS bc of the Dejounte trade a few yrs ago.
Interesting, Tank probably isn’t calculating the “whichever is better” part lol and letting Bucks keep their pick?
Bottom line is, Atlanta isn’t winning a title with Trae as their number one guy. The calculus is different for Charlotte; in a small market it’s about assembling a roster that puts bums on seats, and Ball will give them that if he can manage to stay on the court.
Think it’s pretty hard to find a trade for Trae Young right now a lot of teams are settled at point guard, a lot don’t have the means of matching his 45mil salary and then it’s meeting whatever the required asking price is that ATL sets.
The only real thing that I could think of off the top of my head was Trae to Sacramento for Zach LaVine, you could throw in Devin Carter for Krejci and maybe a protected first possibly.
Move Dyson to point and have Zach at SG, he’s a lot more efficient as a scorer than Trae, not much improvement on defence but also shorter contract and who knows maybe you can develop Carter who the Kings clearly don’t rate much anymore.
For the Kings they paid Sabonis and Leegan Murray so they are sorta locked in as a win now team although they suck. Trae doesn’t make a huge amount of sense but is a bigger and better name and maybe with the right pieces around him and Sabonis they could make it work.
Hawks should be praying New Orleans continue to suck and they get a good pick there but even without it their roster has enough talent to make the playoffs regularly.
As for the Kings they’d need to be active in making more trades to get the right pieces around their big names. I’d suggest a defensive forward and getting rid of DeRozan.
Maybe DeRozan and Saric for Jerami Grant.
Trae Keon Murray Grant Sabonis
Schroder/Russ Monk Clifford Precious Raynaud
Something along those lines. Could even sell Schroder ay the deadline if there is some draft capital available.
Trae is a trash can. So not sure he’s worth more than 25m a year and prob not worth more than a good bench player at 15m a year like Clarkson when head in his prime.