It's over. The [Trae Young era has officially concluded](https://soaringdownsouth.com/trae-young-was-more-basketball-player-to-atlanta) for the Atlanta Hawks following their Wednesday night trade that sent the point guard to the Washington Wizards in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. With the trade now finalized, we're realizing that this deal continued the unfortunate trend of the Hawks not getting proper value back for their stars.
This was the same kind of low-value return that Atlanta got back when it traded John Collins to the Jazz, and Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. Between these three trades, the Hawks shockingly only got back two total first-round picks. That's unacceptable considering the kind of collective talent those three players represent.
For further context or for those who might have forgotten, Atlanta sent Collins to Utah in exchange for Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick. With the Murray deal, he was sent to New Orleans in exchange for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and two first-rounders. It's simply baffling that neither Collins nor Young yielded a single first-round pick.
Atlanta has consistently misread its own leverage and waited too long to act, allowing asset value to erode before finally pulling the trigger. By the time the front office committed to moving on, the rest of the league already had concerns baked into negotiations, whether that was contract structure, on-court fit, or long-term direction.
The Hawks got bad value for Trae Young, Collins and Murray
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The Trae Young deal is just the latest example of that failure. Young is still one of the league’s most dynamic offensive engines, but Atlanta waited until his value was no longer at its peak to move him. What they received reflects the hesitation. McCollum is a solid veteran and Kispert is a useful shooter on the wing, but neither moves the franchise forward in a meaningful way. There is no blue-chip prospect attached to this trade, and no meaningful draft capital to reshape the roster.
That leaves the Hawks in a disappointing spot. They still have a solid foundational piece [to build upon in Jalen Johnson](https://soaringdownsouth.com/hawks-fully-vindicated-controversial-jalen-johnson-decision), but they didn't get back nearly the kind of compensation they would have gotten had they dealt Young a year or two ago.
The frustrating part for Hawks fans is that this was avoidable. Atlanta had multiple off-ramps over the years where they could have cashed in earlier and reshaped the roster with intent. Instead, each major trade has felt reactive rather than proactive, driven mostly by necessity instead of by vision.
Now, the front office has to continue building without as many resources as they would ideally have. Atlanta has to rely on drafting well and seeing strong internal development. The Hawks can still become the kind of contender they want to be, but it's going to be harder when they keep making these kinds of mistakes and getting less for more.